The Warrior's Way
by TheSearcherer
Summary: Priam never considered the thought of a family, but with all of the battles over, what's stopping him? especially since he meets his future child. Rated T for language, violence, and alcohol references.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Friendships and Post-War Time

Priam let out a sigh, one of relief and of longing. He was just recently brought on by Chrom to be in the Shepherds with the intent of slaying the Fell dragon: Grima. He was relieved to be alive, surely nothing makes you feel so alive as defeating a god itself. But therein lay the trouble, all of the fighting was over, and he would return to his little island off the coast of Valm. Sure, there would be a celebration in Ylisse for the victory, but he would say his goodbyes, and journey back to Valm with less than he anticipated.

What had he anticipated? He longed for more glorious battle as he glanced on Ragnell to see that the blood of Grimleal still fresh from their fight on the back of that monstrous behemoth. He wanted more to do with his life, more Risen to fight, more soldiers to train, the thought of a family-

_Wait! Were did that thought come from? _Priam thought. He was a warrior unbound by earthly emotions such as love, at least, he hoped so. He thought more on the subject and came to the conclusion that having an heir to pass Ragnell on to wouldn't be so bad. Preferably a boy, though having a girl like Lucina that was strong in her own right wouldn't be so bad. He didn't think often of death, but war will occasionally make you think crazy things and this wasn't the first time he had thought of an heir.

His thoughts on the matter were put to the side as Chrom gave his victory speech to the Shepherds. Chrom deserved to relish this moment, it was his destiny to put Grima back to sleep. As Chrom was talking, he glanced around at his new comrades in arms. Robin wore a face of worry and sorrow, but was quickly comforted by his wife, Cordelia, in a strong embrace. Kellam cheered in the back louder than any other shepherd, but for some odd reason, no one seemed to notice. This always made Priam confused on the matter of Kellam's 'lack of prescience'. He told Priam that many people overlook him, but he wasn't sure why because he had absolutely no problem finding him. Priam then noticed Basilio pull a wineskin from what appeared to be thin air, the man knew when an opportune time to drink was, and this was as good as any other.

He then noted Say'ri, holding her Killing Edge just above her head in a triumphant pose. While Priam held respect for many of Chrom's shepherds, the one he respected the most in the entire army was Say'ri. She was one of the only people to try to unite the Resistance against Walhart. She was hounded by Walhart's men, attacked by her own friends, and did what she believed was right, even if that meant the death of her brother, Yen'fay. That earned great respect in his eyes.

"Priam, do you really plan on returning to that small island you call your home after this war?" Priam turned to see that his greatest rival, Walhart, standing beside him. "I still see the fight in your eyes. You are not finished, are you?" Walhart asked.

"I wish there were more for me to do, to be honest." Priam said, with a hint of depression. "I mean, sure, we just completed the greatest battle in history, but it still leaves me... longing..."

"True," Walhart said in the most normal manner he could speak in. "all great warriors long to do battle for the rest of their life, and you are one such man."

"That is a little over the top. I'm just a man, same as everyone else here."

"JUST a man?" Walhart said, with a bit of a laugh "If you were JUST a man as you claim, I would have claimed the entire continent of Valm, INCLUDING your little island. The three armies I sent to your 'Garden of Giants' either died, or joined you. I was about to send my elite force, lead by myself, to erase you from the map if it were not for the Ylissean league's impeccable timing!"

Priam chuckled as he remembered the three armies that came to clash with his own. The arrogantly strong units fell to his blade as the weak surrendered and became stronger under him. Most of his men were the weakest from other armies that allied with him, but he brought out the potential in each of them until they were strong enough to survive any battle placed before them.

Walhart spoke up again, "You still have not answered my question. Are you to return to Valm with the rest of us?" By 'the rest of us' he meant the soldiers who resided in Valm such as Virion, Cherche, himself, Say'ri and her brother Yen'fay.

"Only if you promise not to try to conquer it again," Priam chuckled, met only with a blank expression from Walhart.

"I cannot make such promises" Walhart said, but he was obviously joking and the two let out a belly laugh at Walhart's new-found ability to act.

* * *

That night, the celebration began. All were dancing and laughing and having a merry time. Priam made it his job to discover how everyone managed during the battle to make sure everyone was alright.

His first conversation was with Robin, which turned out to be short because of Robin's inability to sacrifice himself for the rest of humanity. While Priam thought this was a noble cause, he would have been crushed to know that his new-acquainted friend, with whom he had discussed his training regimen to, sacrificed himself for everything he held dear...

Priam then struck up a conversation with Yen'fay, who he had noted, during the battle, to try to help Say'ri as much as possible despite Say'ri's constant efforts of trying to avoid him. Priam brought this to Yen'fay's attention.

"I was just trying to protect my beloved sister, which I failed to do in my time..." Yen'fay said with a slight sigh, "I only wish she understood that."

"You need to be strong, my friend." Priam said, reassuringly, "If people saw the mighty swordsmaster, Yen'fay, sighing in depression, they would all try to comfort you. Just talk to her and try to explain that you just want her to be safe."

"You are a good friend, Priam, and a mighty warrior whose skill is unattainable."

"Flattery is not something to be used loosely. I'm just a man, same as you." Priam said, with a smile. He then left his friend to discuss with others about their most recent victory.

"You are a good man, Priam. Your son believed as much..." Yen'fay said quite ominously as he looked across the landscape in nostalgia.

* * *

**HEY! so this is my first fanfic...EVER... so I would appreciate some positive/negative reviews. I mainly wrote this because of the lack of Priam fanfictions. He is my favorite character in the game (mainly because he is a badbass with Ragnell) and I was shocked that the only Priam fanfic was rated M. But I have about 9 chapters written and in the editing phase. The story is a little dry the first two chapters, but the battle scene brings it some good feelings to it (in my opinion) So keep checking back for more. And if this story does well, then I'll write another one with paralogue parent characters getting married. **

**Thanks again for opening this story.**

**-TheSearcherer**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Crossing the Long Sea

Priam sat on the deck of the transport galley as it slowly drifted to the location he was reluctant to reach. The sailors had turned in for the night, and so had everyone else headed to Valm. He lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, accidentally knocking his bandana off his head. After repositioning it atop his hair, he stood up and looked across the sea to examine the ocean. He had just finished another harsh training regimen just before bed, it made him sleep easier. But for some odd reason, he could not retire for the night. He had never experienced insomnia, but he didn't like it. Rest is one of the most important actions that a warrior must take place in. It calms the body and regenerates lost energy and chi. But he could not become tired, despite his best efforts. He decided that because of his insomnia, he would stay up to keep guard. _For what?_ He thought _There is little chance that anything, even Risen, would assault us. No flyers can reach out this far without having to land at least once, and no ships have been spotted this entire journey. _

He resumed his training.

He had become well acquainted with one of the future children, Owain and tried to convinced him to return to the island with him. Owain jumped at the offer to learn from one of the mightiest heroes of all time, but his wife, Severa, was angry and said that she would not allow her husband to be across the world until they had completely settled. He appreciated Owain's colorful nature, and his imaginary battle scenarios idea. Priam was just running through one of them when he heard a faint, feminine sigh escape the lower deck. He hoped that his training didn't wake anyone.

As it turned out, another person on the ship was suffering from insomnia as well, she approached the stairs to the deck hoping that the fresh, ocean air would clear her thoughts. Little did Say'ri know that Priam had been practicing up there all night, light on his feet so as not to disturb anyone.

As she reached the deck, the first thing she saw was Priam, swinging away at what appeared to be imaginary targets. Watching the hero, she noted that he moved with grace as he wielded his ancestor's sword, Ragnell. He fought with the ferocity of a lion, but the grace of a swan, cutting down countless imaginary enemies. He then appeared to point Ragnell at an invisible boss as he uttered, "you're mine". Things took a drastic turn, almost as if he was performing a dance, the music sped up and his actions were faster and more accurate.

When it appeared that he landed the final blow, he muttered under his breath, "Your life shall be an example for others.." He then sheathed Ragnell, stood straight, and began walking towards the front of the ship.

Priam had just fought a battle scenario that Owain had suggested to get the feel of revenge and strength when defending others. The scenario went like this: His family was all he had in the world other than his strength, so when a corrupt noble thought that enslaving them was a great idea, Priam would have something else to say about the matter.

He was completely unaware of Say'ri's presence until she had started to clap. "Strength, beauty, and grace do not oft' go hand in hand, but such can be said about your performance." She stated with a smile as she was clapping. Priam was not one to show surprise easily, but when he had heard clapping from behind him, he placed one hand on Ragnell, and slowly turned to see Say'ri's face. She was one of the few people who could sneak up behind him without him detecting her presence. Not even the successful Ylissean thief, Gaius was sneaky enough to steal his dessert during his first night with the Shepherds. But she had been successful without even trying, on more than one occasion, and this added to his respect for her.

"Say'ri," he said with a small sigh of relief, "Did I wake you from my loud training up here?"

"Nay, you were so silent on your feet that a mouse would be angry that it were no longer the quietest." She said in the Chon'sin dialect. She also let out a small chuckle.

"Then what brings you out here?" he questioned.

"I...I have been sleep deprived for days... since the arrival of my alternate time brother..." She looked on the verge of tears, which made Priam also feel upset. He didn't know why she held such power over his emotions, when she was happy, he was happy, when she was mad, he was mad. Before meeting Say'ri, he had experienced almost none of these emotions before.

She continued, "before his arrival to this time, I prayed every night to Naga to bring him back so I could apologize before him rather that to no one in particular, but now that he has returned, Should I accept him? Is he really my brother? I wonder if... if I..." she started to get choked up as tears were slowly starting to roll down her face.

Priam stood there as he watched the princess of Chon'sin beginning to break down. Priam had shared many philosophies with Robin about life (And he had many that he never had the chance to share) but he couldn't think of any to help the situation. Instinct was telling him to put an arm around her and give her comforting words, but for the first time in his life, he argued with Instinct, one of his closest friends until today. If he put his arm around her, he was afraid it would send her the wrong message, but on the other hand, it might comfort his good friend.

She was crying softly and trying to hold back a sob. Priam hadn't moved, and both stood an equal distance from each other.

_Think, Priam, Think! _He internally yelled at himself, _by the name of Ike, what do I do? _He stood completely motionless. Noticing his discomfort, she bowed and spoke, "I *sniffle* apologize for my 'interruption'... I shall leave." she turned to go and Priam was filled with guilt. Instinct, again, made its proposal to him and this time, he listened to it.

"Say'ri, I..." Priam started to walk toward her as she turned around, "I don't know what to say. Hell, I've never been good with words," He put his arm around her shoulders. It made her blush, but he didn't notice. He led her to the front of the boat and sat down with her beside him. "but I am here for you, I cannot bear to see a friend in this much anguish."

"Priam... *sniffle* Thank you..." She could no longer hold in the waterworks as she burst into a sob and buried her face in his chestplate. His heart felt like it had been put into knots as he wondered what could have made him feel this way, he assumed it was a late-reacting curse placed on him by one of those accursed Grimleal. Although he put the thought out of his head when he remembered that there was a girl crying into his chest.

They sat there for thirty minutes, with Say'ri crying, and Priam holding her. She was starting to stop crying, "Thank you, Priam... The problem I face inside has not left, but has been alleviated for the night." She sighed and smiled at him, resting her head on his shoulder. He was sitting awkwardly with her on his shoulder, but he knew that if he complained, she would be distressed. Priam thought about the current situation, He was sore from holding her for so long after training, his armor had been cleaned by her tears, and he had successfully made her relieved of her problems for the night. _Hey _thought Priam, _I told Walhart I wanted to face new challenges, I didn't exactly mean this, but I think I did pretty well. _His thoughts were interrupted by Say'ri, "I feel tired," she said with a blush, "for the first time in a while, I am going to retire to my hammock below. Thank you, sir Priam, for everything." She smiled at the radiant hero, which made him blush, ever so slightly _Wow _he thought _am I losing control of my emotions? This HAS to be a hex._

"Well, I am glad that I could be of assistance to you tonight. Sleep well, Say'ri."

As she was walking back towards the stairs she had originally come up, Priam felt an unbalance in the air. He then felt the aura of revenge, followed by a faint noise of waves crashing, but it was behind them. He scanned the horizon, and he saw several figures hovering above the surface of the water and on the water as well, most likely hostile.

"Priam?" Say'ri asked as she noted the sudden change in attitude of her friend. Priam was still using his senses to determine the situation and had paid her no notice. But she saw that his face had worry written all over it. She spoke up, "Prithee, answer!"

Priam snapped out of whatever had caught his attention and gave Say'ri a serious face. "Whatever is wrong?" she asked once she had his attention.

"Sound the alarm." he said in an undertone, pulling Ragnell from its sheath, "We're going to see some action."

* * *

**HEY!... So the story is slowly starting to incline, like a death-drop rollercoaster, and we'll see more characters that I bet you were bargaining for. The shepherds mostly reside in Ylisse (duh) so the only ones we'll see for a while are the Valmese and new characters. Don't be afraid though because Priam's son will show up soon.**

**Again, I Thank you for turning to chapter 2 on this story. I am not going to update as fast as I just did, but this chapter was pretty muched finished so I thought, ****_why am I holding on to this? _****and I posted it. I plan on writing a second story soon involving two paralogue first-gen characters. Your opinions are wanted, because I have some Ideas, but there's bound to be something better.**

**Once again, Thanks.**

**-TheSearcherer**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Healing a Hero

Nothing...

He felt nothing, could see nothing, he could hear nothing. Blackness enveloped him and he could not think. He could only breathe...

He was in this darkness for gods know how long until a twinge of pain settled on his arm. It was followed closely by a similar feeling in his chest. He regained his senses of hearing and feeling, but could still not see.

"Well, it's a good thing I still know how to use this." A feminine voice said over Priam. He started to gather his thoughts as he had come to the realization that his eyes had been tightly closed. As he did open his eyes, his vision was slightly blurred.

"Behold, the hero stirs!" said a slightly more masculine voice. He could only make out two figures through his fog, a woman with long pink hair holding a staff, and a light-blue haired man with a bib (at least, it looked like a bib).

Priam started to sit up and tried to assess the situation, but was forced down by the gentle, yet firm hand of a black haired woman next to him. "Pray rest, sir. The last thing you need is to pass out again."

"Wha... Where..." Priam was confused, vision still blurred. He had never been on this side of a hospital bed, and was wondering how he got there. He didn't like all of this unnecessary attention.

"I must say, I'm impressed, lad." a voice commented, "If not for your recklessness, my sister would resemble a pin cushion. I am in your debt"

Priam's vision completely cleared, as well as his thoughts. He could now see Cherche holding a healing staff, Virion in his normal pose with one hand on his hip, Yen'fay holding his arms behind his back out of respect with a smile on his face, and Say'ri holding him down with a worried look in her eye.

He then began to remember how it all had come about... _The ships were closing in as the group of former Shepherds and sailors awoke and assembled topside, one by one. Virion noticed the ships were gaining and commented on it, "I wonder if they are using the same wind we are using." he pondered, but Priam shot him a serious look to tell him that it didn't matter. Walhart had just fallen to sleep when the ship's alarm was sounded, so he became infuriated with the matter, "BRING ME THE MEN WHO WISH TO DISTURB THE SLUMBER OF THE MIGHTY WALHART" he bellowed, still in his red, silk pajamas. Priam pointed toward the two ships in the distance to signify the enemy in Walhart's eyes._

_ Cherche decided to scout the ships as close as she could, she returned to reveal the news that all, except Priam, were dreading, "They're enemies, all right. They shot arrows at my dear Minerva as we grew close." She patted her trusty mount and it replied with a screech. "And this is the real shocker, they are flying a flag with a symbol of the Grimleal!"_

_ Priam became excited at the news, he wanted more than anyone to put those sick dastards ten feet under the ground (if not more). Yen'fay appeared topside as well. He was searching for Say'ri to make sure she was alright, not knowing she was also topside. After seeing her safe with other comrades, he sighed out of relief and asked Priam, "What is the current situation? Why have we assembled topside?"_

_ "We've run into a snag," Priam answered, pointing towards the ships dotting the horizon. "The Grimleal have been chasing us and they appear to be catching up. They most likely plan for battle."_

_ "Then we must ready ourselves." Yen'fay replied as he ran back down the stairs to retrieve Amatsu, his famous throwing blade._

_ The sailors scrambled to grab all the weapons they owned and readied themselves for battle, most had cutlasses, some had spears, and two of them had wind tomes. Over all, they had a number of about 50 people, while it appeared the Grimleal had more._

_ The ships were less than a mile away from their small transport galley, and the sun was just coming up, but the Grimleal were eager to start. They sent several wyvern riders using them as transports to get their soldiers across the ocean to the other ship. Virion noted this and asked the two wind mages to assist in, as he put it, "a fun day of shooting wild game." The mages nodded and followed him to the front of the ship, readying their tomes. The mages were successful, but not as much as Virion, who was already a skilled sniper. Using one arrow, he fell 3 wyverns that were in a straight line, causing six troops to cascade into the water below. The man was accurate and deadly with a bow, as Priam had known watching Lon'qu try to evade several shots from him at the Hotrealms for practice. _

_ When some troops landed, Priam, who was slightly good at tactics from talking to Robin, began barking out orders. Walhart did not listen to a single one as he ran his mighty Wolf Berg axe through every Grimleal it found. "YOU SHALL FALL TO THE WAYSIDE!" he heard him yell as he killed three dark mages with one swing._

_ Everyone fought bravely. Cherche watched the skies and gave aerial support when needed, Yen'fay fought most of the swordsman and kept the sailors who could not fight safe, and Say'ri fought next to Priam and watched his back, not that he needed it._

_ "You shall all pay for sealing master Grima away!" Priam heard a hoarse voice yell over the dim of battle. The sorcerer had just landed with three archers and all four were taking aim at Priam. Priam chuckled to himself at their bad choice, as he threw his last tomahawk at the sorcerer, nailing him in the chest with one hit._

_ "arrrggh!" the sorcerer screamed in pain as he stumbled backward and off the boat. With the splash heard, the Grimleal became infuriated and the three archers shot at Priam. He skillfully avoided every shot toward him and yelled back, "Is that the best you've got?" They were angry, to say the least, but they knew that attacking him would do no good. So they took aim at Say'ri who, to Priam's surprise, had moved to a different side of the boat to combat some wyvern riders. His thoughts scrambled as to what he could do to save her. Throwing a tomahawk to block the arrows was out of the question as his last one was at the bottom of the ocean stuck in that sorcerer. Throwing Ragnell would do no good because that would only block two of the arrows. As the arrows became airborne, Priam realized he had no choice but to take the hits for her. Her armor was light and it would most likely give way to the three projectiles streaking toward her, but his armor was tougher and he would most likely survive the ordeal. He jumped just in time to stop them..._

_ THWAP the first arrow pierced his arm badly, THWOMP the second arrow nailed him in the side of his chest , TWANG the third arrow, to his relief, ricocheted off of his arm shield._

_ "Argh." He muttered to himself as he continued the fight, with two arrows in his body. He remembered killing the archers, and a couple mercenaries, but beyond that, nothi-ARGH, GODS! _The pain of the healing staff doing it's job sank into Priam's body, snapping him out of his recollection. He groaned a little as Cherche was finishing up healing his more serious wounds and recovering them in the bandages.

"You are fortunate I saw what happened, sir Priam, because after you were shot on my behalf, you continued to fight." Say'ri gave him a look of concern and continued, "No one noticed blood pouring out of your body until you passed out."

"If Say'ri hadn't told me about your injuries, you would have been in a critical condition." Cherche said with a smile of relief, patting her staff, "We watched your back for the rest of the battle, making sure that the moment you stopped fighting, we would take you to the infirmary here in the ship."

Virion then put a hand on Priam's other shoulder, "If it were not for my darling wife learning to be a cleric at such an early age, you would be dead, mon ami!" he said with a prideful chuckle.

"did we repel them?" Priam asked as if he didn't hear a word they said.

"Ah, is the hero awake?" said Walhart's unmistakable voice as he entered the room. "There he is, the craven that ran from battle!" He let out a laugh that shook the room. Priam knew he was joking, but he didn't want Walhart to have the upper hand.

"You know me well, Walhart, and you know that there are only two ways I get off of a battlefield: By winning, or by my comrades dragging my carcass off."

"It matters not," Walhart said seriously, "You defeated their commander, in record time I might add, you took care of most the strong units so that once you had been pulled off of the battlefield, we had won. A few of them retreated back to one of their boats and left the other to drift aimlessly."

"Virion, Minerva, and I took some sailors over to the forgotten vessel to collect supplies and to control the ship. We gave most of the excess space to Minerva. I think she deserved it after that hectic battle." Cherche said with a smile on her face. Virion's face showed that he did not like this idea, but didn't want to make her upset. "Say'ri has volunteered to stay by your bedside if you need anything. And she will notify us if there is a change in your healing." Cherche said. Say'ri blushed even more and confirmed her words.

"They require me to watch over you as your wounds heal, to make sure the healing staffs and elixirs do their job. But that requires you to rest, sir Priam, because-"

He held up a hand, "-Please, just call me Priam. No need for 'sir'."

"Still," she continued lightly pushing his hand out of the way, "we do not wish for you to become unconscious again. You've been out for three days."

"Three days?!" Priam said startled, "I've missed out on three days of training?! I need to get topside!" he tried sitting up, but between the pains he felt in his arm and chest, and the gentle push Say'ri was giving to his shoulder, he fell back down against his pillow, groaning.

"HAHAHAHA! Stated like a true warrior!" Walhart stated, "But there is truth in their words, Priam. I do not want you dead because you didn't have the willpower to rest, I want you dead after a glorious battle between our blades!" He grabbed Priam's hand and shook it hard. "Get better soon, because when you are done in here, I'll send you back after we spar! HAHAHA" Walhart then removed himself from the room, his laughter still audible from yards away.

"He is going to regret saying that" Priam said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "The strong are drawn to the strong..."

"With that, I'll leave you two in here alone." Yen'fay said with a smirk barely visible on his face. Priam shot him a confused glanced and Say'ri blushed.

"There are four of us in here, 'Fay (Gaius took up the habit of calling Yen'fay, ' 'Fay.' Priam thought it was a great nick-name and took up the habit too). Did you skip math in Chon'sin's school or something?"

Yen'fay chuckled to himself, glanced at Say'ri and Priam and left. Virion bowed, wished Priam good health, and also exited the room.

"Remember, if you need me," Cherche reminded Priam, "I'm just one wyvern ride away from here on the other boat. Ta-ta, and feel better soon, Priam."

Cherche then left the room, and it hit Priam again; he was in a hospital bed. Sighing at realizing the fact he could do nothing but breath, eat, and talk. He laid completely flat and began to relax when a cough at his side startled him. He had completely forgot that Say'ri was in there.

"Sir Pria- Er.. Priam? I wish to have words with you about the battle three nights ago."

"Yeah? What about it?" he said in a casual tone.

Shocked that he was so calm about it, she continued.

"You- you saved my life! And you could have been killed! At yet you lie here, acting so calm about it. It make not sense."

Seeing that she was clearly worried, he calmly said, "It is all part of the job. I expect every battle to be my last, so I never have long-term plans. I would much rather die on a battlefield knowing I gave it my all to protect those that I love, than die of old age in a cottage ."

"But still, why protect me? Why would you stick your neck out for me?"

"Because we're friends, Say'ri. And as I've said, I protect those who I care about."

That statement made her blush again and she calmed down, "Fie, but you did not need to harm yourself to save me. Promise me, Priam, that you shall take no action that risky again for my life, or anyone's for that matter. For just as you care for me," she took both of his hands into hers and leaned closer to him, "I care just as much for you."

They sat there staring into each others eyes. Hers were a beautiful light-brown, almost hazel, color; it made him feel..uneasy. His stomach did back-flips. He wanted to say something, anything, but couldn't find the words to say. Priam's heart rate increased, his head felt like it was spinning, and his cheeks felt like they would catch on fire. _She HAS to dabble in hexes, there is no way anyone could affect my emotions this much. Did she learn from that crazy lady, Tharja? _His thoughts ran all over the place, he had to end this soon.

"*cough* could you please get me a glass of water, I haven't had anything to drink three in days."

"Fie, of course." she said with a smile. That smile sent a warm feeling through his entire body. She stood and left to retrieve him a glass of water.

"maybe I'm coming down with something..." he muttered as she left the room. He then lay back against the pillows and rested.

* * *

**HEY!... So my summer break is ending pretty soon so I'm trying to get as much done as fast as possible to prepare for my senior year. It has been so much fun writing this. I would love to hear your thoughts on this new chapter, positive/negative. I also what to hear ideas for other parent-gen relationships, so I can get started on something else to distract myself when I'm bored. As always, I appreciate the reviews left by everyone. And I thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this new chapter in this story. Chapter 4 will be the last chapter with the standard characters before I introduce the newbies. **

**Once again, thanks a billion!**

**-TheSearcherer**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Fork in the Road

At the words, "Land ho!" Priam exited the room he had been staying in the entire journey since the battle. He went up the stairs to the main deck to see the land he had left so long ago. His arm was still in a sling, but he had returned to his daily training exercises despite Say'ri's nagging. But for her, he took it down a couple of notches as to not strain himself.

The ships pulled into the harbor and the supplies where hauled off the frigates. They disembarked the ship and went to inquire where they might be able to acquire horses or a wagon. When they were told it would take a day to prepare everything, they decided to celebrate returning home safely by heading to the local tavern. When they had gathered together, they discussed the different routes they would take home over dinner.

"Virion and I are headed north, back to Rosanne." Cherche said. Virion shivered in realization.

"You will need to stay close to me, darling." said Virion to his wife, holding both her hands in his. "they shall most likely hurl stones when they see their cowardly leader." He was probably right. The people of Rosanne loathed him for leaving them in their time of crisis, but he planned not to deny these claims, instead, he would try to rebuild Rosanne from the ground up.

"And what of you, Walhart?" Yen'fay asked to the former conqueror. "Am I correct to assume you wish to conquer the continent again?" he said with a nervous laugh.

"For now," the conqueror responded, "I plan to attain greater power. And when the time comes, I shall conquer the Outrealms!"

"...I"m sure you have a noble cause for this?" Priam said sarcastically, taking a bite out of his food.

Turning his attention to Priam, he spoke, "The Outrealms are an unruly place. They need someone, such as myself, to bring order and peace to the chaos."

"That's about as noble as you can get, my stalwart adversary..." He lifted his cup of wine to take a long sip.

"And what of you, Priam?" Say'ri asked out of curiosity.

Priam set down the cup and thought about it for a minute. He had asked himself this when he was in the infirmary. He decided then that it was about time to settle down and maybe start a family, but he wanted a couple more adventures before he came to that point in his life.

Priam spoke in a casual tone, poking the food on his plate with his fork. "I guess when there is no more fighting and there is no more reason to train, I might settle down and start a family. That would give me a whole new reason to fight on."

All of them gave Priam a shocked expression except Yen'fay, who was beaming when he heard those words.

Noticing the change in expression that undertook in their faces, he asked while lifting a piece of cattle meat to his mouth, "What did I do? …Did I say something wrong?"

"N-nay," Say'ri replied avoiding his eye contact, "but if you need something to distract yourself, you can always visit me and my brother in Chon'sin. We will be in need of a stronger military since the conquest a year ago and we thought that you would be able to help with the training of new recruits."

"Verily so!" He set a hand on Say'ri's shoulder, who shrugged it off. He stood straight again and continued, "You would make the perfect role model for the younglings, and we would pay you handsomely for it." Yen'fay added.

"I appreciate it, 'Fay, but I think that I will return to the island to see how the situation is there. I left no one in charge, so hopefully they didn't kill each other." He said with a slight laugh.

The five shepherds talked of battles and victories for what seemed like hours. They continued until they had no more to discuss. When they had finished eating and drinking mead, they retired to their inn rooms that they had reserved and fell asleep.

The next morning, they all met in the inn's tavern to say their goodbyes. Walhart had left in the middle of the night to avoid this whole fiasco. He felt that it made one weak to reminisce in a long farewell. On the flip side, Priam felt that it makes one stronger to remember those whom had fought by one's side. It reminds one that many things can be easily accomplished with willpower and friendships.

After bidding farewell to Virion, Cherche and Minerva, they parted ways; one group going north, one group going south. Priam hitched a ride with Yen'fay and Say'ri because his island was just north of Chon'sin's peninsula, and the only harbor close to it was in Chon'sin.

The journey had little talking between the three. Yen'fay had volunteered to drive the wagon while Say'ri and Priam sat in the back with the supplies. Many times, Priam would be as restless as a kid in Naga's chapel during their journey, so he would get the energy out by jogging along side of the wagon.

They had reached a fork in the road, and none could remember which way was their destination. Say'ri went to a local farmer and asked for directions, and Priam thought this would be a good time to ask Yen'fay a question that he thought was completely logical.

"hey, 'Fay..." he paused making sure it was still logical, "Does your sister ever dabble in hexing?"

Yen'fay gave him a shocked expression, and after a couple of seconds, burst into laughter. Priam had never heard the man laugh before, but at this very moment, he didn't like it. Maybe the question wasn't as logical as he had assumed...

"And why do you ask, sir Priam?" He said once he had ceased laughter, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Well, because every time I'm near her, my body starts sweating, my heart feels like it ties in knots, my emotions change, and my normally rock-solid facade falls. I have never felt a hex, because I skillfully evade them, but this feels different, and I know it will be the end of me."

Yen'fay stared into space as he started to recollect memories long forgotten. He didn't answer Priam, but a smile crept onto his face.

"'Fay?" Priam asked as to get his attention. Yen'fay snapped out of the memories, "Ah, apologies, sir Priam, I appear to have lost myself in nostalgia. But I know what is ailing you."

"You do?" Priam said rather shocked, "Tell me what it is!"

"Friend, you are experiencing love for my sister!" He let out a laugh, "Ah what a day..." He again drifted into memories with a smile on his face.

Priam was astonished, he stuttered, which was not normal of him, "W-w-what? That is crazy!" Priam wondered if what Yen'fay said was true, but his thoughts were cut off by a voice from behind him.

"What appears 'crazy' now?" Say'ri asked as she returned from getting directions.

Priam, again, didn't detect her presence. "N-nothing of importance." he blurted out. He could feel his face heating up from being so close to her.

She gave him a quizzical look as if trying to figure it out on her own, but Priam had returned to his stone-wall facade, and she dropped the matter.

"The farmer informed me that this road to the west leads directly to a port." Say'ri informed Yen'fay, "Priam could get to his island sooner if he took that route, and the main road that we want is the other road. It leads directly to Chon'sin."

"Then this is where we part, Priam." Yen'fay said with a sigh. "We shall prepare one of the horses with your supplies, and get you on your way."

Priam saw that Say'ri's face was crestfallen and he couldn't bear to see her like that anymore. He decided that he wanted to know for sure that it was really 'love' he felt for Say'ri, but he didn't know how he would manage to stay with them. Then he remembered the offer they gave him back in the tavern.

"I thought you had a job opening for training new recruits?" he asked with a grin.

Say'ri smiled bright, which warmed his heart, Yen'fay laughed, "So be it, friend. Climb back in the wagon and we shall venture onward!"

Priam smiled at seeing Say'ri happy, and climbed up into the driving bench next to Yen'fay.

They continued their long trek to Chon'sin, sharing stories they had from the war. Priam had told them of a couple of his philosophies of the warrior and, to his surprise, they didn't appear bored as Robin had when he had first told him. They shared their ideas with Priam as well, discussing training environments, training weapons, and exercises. They went on for hours, and darkness fell. Say'ri felt tired and told the two that she was going to sleep in the rear of the wagon.

When Priam saw that she was sound asleep, and knowing that you couldn't hear the driver in the back that easily, he decided to ask Yen'fay a couple questions concerning their previous talk at the fork.

"So, 'Fay, you took it rather well when you came to the conclusion that I am in love with your sister." he felt very awkward at that moment, "Not that I think I am." Priam whispered as to not disturb Say'ri.

Yen'fay chuckled, "Trust me, friend, when you first proposed to Say'ri, I felt an urge to gut you like a raw fish."

"When I first proposed?" Priam tried to keep his voice down, but it wasn't helping. He then remembered that Yen'fay was from an alternate time, a number of things in his time could have happened differently.

"Aye." Yen'fay nodded in agreement, he then looked out into the road as if expecting to see something, he then turned to Priam and spoke.

"In my timeline, you had volunteered to be a lieutenant for the Chon'sinian army. You were much younger, but so was my sister. You sparred her, just for sport, but you underestimated her and she took the advantage to defeat you. You were astonished by my sister's strength and grew a healthy respect for her. And over the course of time, respect blossomed into friendship and you spent every day with her on the training grounds, slowly becoming more infatuated with her each day..." Yen'fay paused a moment to slow the horses as to not turn the corners coming up to tight.

"... You told her how you felt for her and she responded to you by marrying you. We couldn't have shown more joy that day. A noble warrior had pledged his life for the honorable Chon'sinian princess... a year after your marriage, you had a son." Priam was showing full interest in this story. Marrying Say'ri, having a son, sounded like a good deal to him.

"If only the tale would end there..." Yen'fay said with a sigh. Priam speculated on how the tale could have gotten worse, but he recounted that in Yen'fay's future, Say'ri died instead of him. "When the first news of the Conqueror appeared, we sent our elite unit, led by General Priam," he gestured to him, "to deal with him in Valm, and you, Priam, were young and weak compared to the man sitting next to me now. Walhart killed you, you did manage to remove his leg, but you died, nonetheless. Later, I was threatened to fight for Walhart or Say'ri would die. I believed none of these threats, and she perished as well..." Yen'fay was becoming more melancholy as he continued to remember his harsh time.

"But what about our son?" Priam asked, still slightly shocked that Walhart had killed him.

"Aye, we fled to Ylisstol when Chon'sin was all but invaded. The Conqueror was later defeated by the Shepherds, and your son grew up around their children. If he did not return to this time with the others, I know not why. But when he was old enough to fight for himself and when he had made valuable allies, I left him in Ylisstol and returned to Chon'sin in order to keep it safe from the Risen epidemic when Grima was resurrected...I failed and somehow returned to this time... It was as if fate had given me a second chance, and I will not watch my sister be cut down again."

Priam's head was spinning with thoughts, _I had a son who was with the other children? Then he must be around here somewhere. _He remembered that Laurent came to this time 7 years ago, and Lucina came here 4 years ago. Could his son be late in returning to him? Or could he be already searching for him? How would Say'ri feel about this?

"And one more thing, sir Priam," Yen'fay said in a quieter voice remembering that his sister was sleeping, "before heading to Ylisstol, I retrieved your sword, Ragnell, from Valm's trophy room and trained your son to fight with it. That means that if he successfully came back to this time, you will easily be able to identify him."

"Thanks, 'Fay." Priam said with a yawn and a stretch. Seeing how late it was, he decided to get some rest, "I think I am going to lie down in the back now, rest is important to the warrior. It heals the aching muscles from a long day to prepare him for the next."

"Aptly put, friend. I shall try to keep us going steady as to not disturb your slumber."

With a nod, Priam sank into the back of the wagon and lay across from Say'ri who was sleeping on the other side.

"What did you and my brother discuss?" Say'ri said sleepily. Priam was startled by the fact that she was still awake and calmly responded.

"Just more warrior philosophies... nothing of grave importance." he said in a hush tone, slowly settling in to rest.

"Good. Sleep well, friend." This was the first time Say'ri had referred to him as a friend, it made him smile and he drifted into a deep slumber.

* * *

**HEY!... So they will arrive in Chon'sin inbetween this chapter and the next. I'm going to make some people angry by introducing 6 or 7 new characters. But because of these newbies, it gives me more opportunities when I have writer's block.**

**Just saying, writing for Say'ri is a pain and I never feel like I 'get' her character. Priam is fairly easy, but I think I may have made him a little too soft for this fanfic.**

**A shoutout to Brendan Aurabolt: Your idea is GENIUS! I was totally going to write Gangrel and Emmeryn, but Walhart and Emmeryn makes TONS more sense! I already have the basic plot for the story and a title, so expect to see a first chapter soon!**(And by soon, I mean: I really don't know...)

**Thanks again for favoriting or following this story! It makes me do little 'happy-dances' every time I get an E-mail from saying that someone has done one of these things. Please leave a review or send me a PM! I'm a free-thinker and open to all thoughts and ideas. And I appreciate honest reviews!**(even if they're a mite hurtful)

**By the way, did anyone catch my ****_Princess Bride_**** reference?**

**Once again, Thanks for stopping by.**

**~TheSearcherer**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Meeting the Crew

Awaking in the inn he had rented in Chon'sin the previous night, Priam prepared for his first day of instructing.

He had always been told that he was very influential, but he never liked the idea of 'training others'. He had always felt that a man can only become a great warrior by walking his journey alone, not relying on the assistance of others. But this philosophy was proven wrong by being shown the full strength of Chrom's Shepherds. They had meager numbers, compared to his own army, but soundly defeated his men (himself included) through teamwork and determination. It is what inspired him to join them, to become part of one unit instead of a lone wolf.

He arrived at the army's camp and was informed on his new position by one of the lieutenants. He was to sleep in the quarters shown to him (it had too much furniture in it for his liking, he would have to change it later), he was told when meal times were, and what he was supposed to do; to train a group of privates into an elite unit, much like the Shepherds of Ylisse. The elite unit was to be called whatever Priam wished for it to be named, so he pondered it and said that he would come up with a name later.

"Very well," the lieutenant replied, "do you need anything else?"

"Just your name and occupation." Priam answered, holding out his hand.

"My name is Z'eldryn. As to what I do," he said as he pulled out a tome from his cloak, "I train the mages and dark mages. One of my trainees is going to be joining your team, from what I've heard." He shook Priam's hand.

"Sounds good, but I won't be going easy on him, just like the others I will train." He said with a smirk.

"I would have it no other way." He said with a nod, "enjoy the free time before you meet the team." he bowed and left Priam standing in front of his tent flap.

"free time..." Priam then went into his tent to remove unnecessary furniture including a bookshelf, a side table next to his cot, his cot (but not the bed roll, he had to sleep on something), his dresser, and the chest for holding valuables. All that remained in the room was his bed roll, chairs, a table, and his coat hanger. The rest of the furniture was outside to be hauled away later.

"That should do it," he patted his hands together to get the grime off. "I've got about an hour before my first training lesson, so why not train myself?"

He headed in the direction of the sparring arenas, passing many buildings along the way. He noticed that this camp was smaller that Ylisse's, but it still had the stuff he needed to feel at home, a place to eat, a place to train, and a place to rest. The camp had everything Ylisse had, except for his former comrades.

He had brought Ragnell with him to intimidate the new recruits and inspire awe in the group, and just in case there were no extra training weapons.

Seeing that the camp had an excess of training weapons, he placed Ragnell out of sight just in case a newcomer arrived early, he was right in assuming this. He had only been there training but for ten minutes when the first soldier arrived. She was an eager, energetic myrmidon girl. She has long black hair, tied in a pony tail, and was dressed in the typical myrmidon blue outfit. When she spotted Priam, she exploded with her introduction as quickly as she could, "Hi, I'm Tanuitia, but my friends call me Tia. I don't care what you call me, I'm just really...excited...TO BE HERE!" She was starting to get on his nerves, but she continued rambling, "Where are you from? I've never seen you around this neck of the woods, but I guess I don't know everybody, but I wish I could! What is your name?" Priam went to answer, but was cut off. "-you don't talk to much, do you? But the least you could do is say 'hello'. Like this, 'HELLLLLLOOOOO-" Priam instantly put his hand over her mouth to silence her. When she had stopped trying to talk through his hand, he spoke in a quiet tone, "Your first lesson, 'Silence is Golden'. You would have found me much more likeable if you had stopped to listen. My name is Priam, and I shall be training you and your fellow comrades. Now slowly answer my next question using a small amount of words, why are you early?"

He removed his had from her mouth and she spoke slowly, "I was eager to start, sir Priam. My whole life, I've wanted to be a great swords-mistress, like my cousin. I am sorry for my outburst earlier, but when I'm nervous, I just start blabbing away." She sighed as she recognized her flaw.

He grunted in approval, "Good. Then in that case, I would like to see how you handle a blade." He noticed that she had none and handed her a dulled training sword. Then, pointing to a training dummy, he explained, "get a few good swings in to practice before we begin our training, when your other comrades arrive, point them to the training weapons and tell them to get practicing as well. Make sure none of them speak to me. That is your first order."

She gave a few hops of excitement at realizing the importance of an order, but then took a serious face to salute Priam, "Right away, sir Priam." and she began attacking the dummy.

Before returning to his own training, he examined her attacks and critiqued them in his head. _She certainly is eager. She lacks training with a blade, but is still full of a certain strength and gracefulness. _She accidentally tapped her shoulder with the blade as she was swinging it and rubbed it in pain, _I'll need to make sure she uses a bronze sword instead of a normal iron or steel sword. _He resumed his training.

The next arrival was a man on horseback. He was young and seemed laid-back, as if nothing was really going to affect his small joy. He had brown hair, he was tan, and was in his late teens. He dismounted and waved to Tia, but was told exactly he told Tia to tell them. _She follows orders to the letter. I'll have to remember that..._

The young man gave her a quizzical look, but she simply pointed at Priam, who pretended he didn't notice, and she resumed her practicing.

The young man gave a shrug, picked up a lance and a sword, and started to practice. He constantly switched between sword and lance. _He is trying to be balanced at everything, he is a lot like Stahl. _He continued to watch them practice with his peripheral vision, observing every success and mistake they made to assess what kind of person they were.

As they continued, he heard two sets of flapping wings, one was the sound of a pegasi, the other sounded like a much, much larger one. As he widened his peripheral vision, he noticed a pegasus knight with Ylissean armor (it was common to see, because the pegasi flourished in Ylisse, so that explained the armor) She had silver hair and was around her late teens. But then, Priam was shocked to see a huge griffon with a small boy on top. The lad dismounted and Priam guessed his age was around Ricken's age when he had first met Ricken.

The two riders followed suit of the cavalier: they said hello to Tia, she informed them of what to do, they both shrugged at each other and began practicing.

He began examining them, _They are probably brother and sister, seeing as that they bare such a strong resemblance to each other. _He watched under the guise of training, the girl was taller than the average woman for her age, but not by much. Her white-silver hair matched her brother's. Priam saw that the sister had helped her little brother reach the axes, much to the boy's discomfort. She handled her lance well as he sensed an aura of magic energy surrounding her, _She would be better off as a dark flyer in the future, and her brother, _he turned to see the small boy swinging the huge training axe with much discomfort, _he isn't going to be much of a problem, the griffon should carry the extra strength he needs to do some damage with that axe. And he seems attached to it, so we won't make any sudden changes with his class._

Two more arrived in the same fashion as the previous groups. There was a mage (Z'eldryn's protege, no doubt), and a knight. The mage was a young man in his early twenties clad in the typical mage attire (minus the hat). He wore a cocky smile on his face and walked with pride as his blonde mohawk flowed in the wind, _I am definitely NOT going easy on him._ He thought and then examined the lady-knight next to him. _She dresses her hair much like Maribelle's. _She had brown hair in curls all the way around with bows to hold them in place, but when she spoke, it was gruff like Sully. She seemed to hate when the others asked her about the hair, making him wonder what her parents are like.

He took a quick look at the roster, getting ready to do roll call, for that moment had come, but he noticed that he was one man short. He examined the roster twice more to make no mistake, but there was still one remaining.

He went back to his training in hopes that the last recruit would appear. Thirty minutes later, a mercenary-clad man stepped out onto the training fields. He was about the same height as Inigo, with hair that was a dark blue color, and he appeared very muscular, with a scar going down the left side of his face. His hair was longer than most, causing his hair to be slicked behind his head using a red bandana, removing the option of bangs altogether. But he wore a face of anger, and appeared very appalled by the others being there.

Tia tried to explain what Priam had ordered, not using his name, but he put his hand up to stop her from talking. "I know what you're going to say, alright? I don't want to hear you talking anymore." With that, he picked up a training sword and assaulted the training dummy.

_He is impressive with a blade, _Priam thought to himself, _but he is also extremely tense toward his comrades, and I don't like loners. I'll have to 'unwind' him in the weeks ahead._

Priam, finding all soldiers accounted for, called them to attention. "shoulder-to-shoulder line!" The group dropped their training weapons back on the shelves of weapons and formed a straight line.

He then picked up the roster and walked to the start of the line where the cavalier stood.

"Name, class, and class rank." he barked at the young man.

"Jack, Cavalier, level 3, Sir." he replied in a shout.

"Have you seen much battle?" Priam asked, he had one question for each of them, each different.

"Only the occasional Risen that plagued our town, sir. So only three skirmishes." He said as if defeated.

Priam stepped forward, "Name, class, and class rank." he barked at the next person in line.

"Aramis, Mage, and I'm at level 7, sir." He said in a cocky manner, pounding his chest,. Priam found it irritating.

"Is Z'eldryn a good teacher?" Priam asked.

"Uh..." Aramis was completely confused of how this man could have known his tutor. "Y-yes, he is but... how do you know him? He is not well known outside the mages."

Priam ignored him and moved on, "Name, class, and class rank." he barked again, this time to the pegasus knight.

"Clarisa, Pegasus knight, level 5, sir." She sounded a bit like Cordelia with her affirmative.

"Do you visit Ylisse in the spring with your brother?" he asked in a casual tone. The others looked at each other, wondering what these questions had to do with fighting.

"No sir," she said with a sigh of longing, "we only visit for diplomatic reasons. I've heard it is beautiful in the spring..."

"Did you meet this fine steed there?" he asked and pointed to the pegasus behind her, eating grass.

"Y-yes sir." she said with a stutter, "how do you know these things?"

He moved on, "Name, class, and class rank." he bent over to the boy next to her.

"Nathaniel, Griffon Rider, level 1 sir." he replied and attempted to deepen voice and stand taller. The others snickered. While the boy had a slightly deeper voice than Ricken, it was only that, _slightly_.

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"What?" he said with a chuckle, "what kind of question is that?" Priam shot him a serious look. The rider quickly realized the import of this quiz and replied, "I am hoping that, under strong guidance, I will become strong and tall."

Priam moved on, satisfied with the answer he received. "Name, class, and class rank." he called out.

"Helen, milord." She attempted to speak like a noble, and she was doing fairly well. But Priam heard her speak to her friends faintly, and knew it was not her real voice. "Knight, level 6."

"Why do you speak in a voice that doesn't belong to you?" He asked with a serious face.

She was astonished, and dropped the charade. "My parents are of noble lineage here, they figured if I talked and looked like a damn noble, then I would move up easier in this team. I'm sorry if I offended you."

"Name, class, and class rank." he barked at the last person in the line. He seemed a little more gruff with this young man, hoping to show that he was irritated by his lack of respect.

"Raphael, Mercenary, level 10... Do I win the prize?" He said in an annoyed, sarcastic tone.

"What excuse do you have for being late?" Priam inquired loudly, as to demand respect.

"Get off my case. I was late because I couldn't find my shoulder armor," he patted on the armor on his right side, "SOMEONE," looking at Aramis, "thought it would be funny to place a spell on it so that every time I got close, it would shock me."

"It wore of after five minutes..." muttered Aramis, who was a little upset that he ratted him out.

Priam was still upset with the young man, not exactly sure why, but he let it slide. He then set up a table. They were all still standing in the formation, when he placed a log on the table upright. He then stood on the opposite side of the table, with the recruits on the other side.

"I have been placed in charge of this little band of misfits," Some of them frowned and showed discomfort at hearing 'misfits'. "to turn you into an elite unit capable of extraordinary things. For us to be great, we must be basic. Consider yourself a novice. Forget all that you have learned, combat-wise. You are now part of a team and you will learn to fight-" he leaned to Raphael, "-as a team. No longer as a solo unit."

After he had finished his short speech, he picked up Ragnell from where it was hidden and unsheathed it. The group was astonished, their eyes were as big as dragonstones. Even Raphael showed interest, which surprised Priam.

He pointed Ragnell at the log that was upright on the table, raised it to strike, and made three swings "Hyah, Rrargh, Yyyah!"; two horizontal, and one vertical.

A couple of them stifled a laugh, Clarisa let out a sigh, and Raphael changed his expression of impression to depression. Aramis let out a hearty laugh.

"HAHAHA! You think that you're so great, but you didn't even touch the log! HAHAHA!" It was true, the log did appear untouched.

"Are you sure?" Priam said as he moved to the side of the table. Looking directly at Aramis, he snapped his fingers and the log fell to six pieces as if it were divided up by two horizontal swings and one vertical. Perfectly clean cuts. A look of awe passed over each of their faces.

"My name is Priam. Descendant of the Radiant Hero, Ike. And I am going to turn you all into soldiers." He said with pride, "our meet-and-greet time is up, so don't expect to see it this easy from here on out. Lunch is in a couple minutes, do not rush eating. When the hour of lunch is over, return here for your first training exercises. And bring towels to wipe up the sweat and blood. DiiiisMISSED" He smirked, saluted, and left them so he could train.

After he had left, Aramis was the first to speak. "There is no way that buffoon descended from Ike!" he huffed, "he is too full of himself."

"On the contrary, I think he is what he claims." said Jack, who was already on his way to the mess tent.

"I still think my cousin could beat him in a fight," Tanuitia declared, "but he still has my respect, my cousin talks a lot about how noble he was in the Fell-Dragon War. What about you, Raphael?" Raphael didn't hear Tanuitia, and remained staring at where Priam once stood.

"Hey, we'd better get going," said Nathaniel, "the food will get cold and I still need to feed Ashnard," he motioned towards the griffon who replied with an eagle's screech. "he gets quite moody if he doesn't eat."

"Well, seeing as Jack left us to eat, we should join him to make his meal more comfortable." Clarisa said with a smile.

"Let's go," Helen continued, "if I don't eat soon, I ALSO get moody."

They all left for the mess tent except Raphael, who was still standing where they were in formation. He sighed out of relief, "...I can't believe it..." he said under his breath with a smile. and headed up toward the mess tent with the others.

* * *

**HEY!...Thank you everyone for your reviews and follows! Because just when I think that this story ain't doing so good, I get a review, or a follow, or a favorite.**

**I just want to do a quick summary of each character (if you don't really want to hear my opinions on the characters, just skip to the bottom):**

**Tanuitia: I forget where I got this name, but I really couldn't find a better one... She obviously is extremely perky and next chapter will reveal why she wants to be a myrmidon so badly.**

**Jack: Yeah, he is quite a bit like Stahl, laid back, always hungry, and a cavalier, but there is a major difference in him that we will get to in much later chapters. Just saying, he is more like Brock from the Pokemon anime.**

**Clarisa: For this character, I basically copied Cordelia. It will be revealed later who she has a crush on. She tends to baby her little brother, even at his protests.**

**Nathaniel: I had a friend named Nathaniel and I figured this would be a good name in this series. He is treated like a child by everyone except Jack and Priam, who understand the strength you must have to control a griffon. (Yes, I named it Ashnard... I was running out of names...)**

**Helen: I haven't really developed this character that well... She is going to be majorly conflicted for the rest of the story, jumping between her noble self and her true self. She may encourage betting in one moment, and then get on to Aramis for arm-pit farts the next moment. This brings us to our next character...**

**Aramis: This was the name of one of the Three Musketeers. This musketeer was the one that never wanted to fight, yet fought anyway. So this character should have been named Porthos, but that doesn't sound like the name of a mage, does it? He is pretty confident in his magical prowess and doesn't back down from a challenge. He obviously still doesn't respect Priam, but he will come around eventually.**

**Raphael: This guy is going to be a challenge to write... I've tried to design him to be like Raphael from TMNT, specifically the series from the early 2000s. He eventually will become the second protagonist in this story, following his thoughts and actions in later chapters.**

**I just want to say thanks again for opening this story. I'm still looking for ideas for other first-gen parent pairings. If you have an idea, feel free to share it. PM me anytime, I will quite literally talk to anyone (unless you are a fish, me and fish are on no-speaking terms at the moment...). Leave a review of what you liked, disliked, or what I should work on as a novice writer. Feedback is always appreciated.**

**Have an excellent day!**

**~TheSearcherer**

**(P.S. Happy Birthday, Olivia!)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The First Training

Priam was right, they needed some towels to wipe up the sweat that covered their faces. They had yet to spar. They were too busy running typical exercises to strengthen the body. Somehow, Priam had turned a typical workout, into excruciating labor. Aramis mumbled about how mages like himself don't need a fine-toned body, but Priam heard it and had him redouble his efforts in the exercises.

Priam then called for a pause in their 'little workout' so they could cool their bodies down. When they had finished drinking their water, they returned into formation, ready for the next few exercises, all but Aramis, who was still drinking water.

Priam showed concern and tried to have Aramis drink slower, "You'll get sick if you keep drinking it down like a Feroxi warrior in Plegia."

"I'll... be... fine..." he said in between drinks, choking through the water.

Once everyone was ready, Priam spoke, "I can see you are all a little winded from my _light_ workout routine," he chuckled, "so we are going to take a step back and evaluate our fighting styles. I want each of you to find a partner, and I'll be the extra man, and I want each pair to challenge a different pair. The first of the pair will fight, while the other watches and tries to give advice on what they could have done better. Pair up." He waited for a couple seconds, no one moved.

"NOW!" he bellowed, and everyone scrambled to find a partner except Aramis, to his disappointment.

Helen had partnered up with Tia, Jack partnered with Nathaniel, and Clarisa with Raphael.

The rules were simple, there was a extremely large ring in the grass, and if you or your partner fell out, you lost. You would also lose if you had been disarmed and you call 'Yield' to admit you had been soundly defeated. At any time, the partner could 'tag in' and replace his or her partner.

Priam did not plan on tagging in, because he didn't want to break any of the new recruits just yet. The first fight was between Jack and Raphael. The mounted units were allowed to fight mounted as long as their mount didn't attack the opponent.

Priam called for the fighters to respect each other, he went back over the rules, and told them to ready their weapons. Jack steadied his blunt lance and patted his steed as if to signify good luck, while Raphael ran through several motions with his blade, as if envisioning the fight. Priam then thought that he knew the kid, he seemed to look like someone he hadn't seen in a while, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was.

"Go!" Priam shouted, and the two rushed at each other. Jack lunged his lance forward with the combined force of his arm and steed, just to find air. Raphael skillfully evaded the jab to his left and jumped and hit him on his right shoulder. Priam thought that this battle would be interesting, Jack was much weaker than Raphael, but with the combined advantage of a horse and the 'lance-beats-sword' bit, he figured Raphael would have his work cut out for him.

He was right. Even though Raphael was easily the stronger of the two, Jack was just as successful as he was in the match, landing as many hits as misses.

Jack lunged at Raphael's feet, but the skilled mercenary hopped and landed on the lance, driving it slightly into the ground. He then leaped up and knocked Jack off his horse with a swift kick to the chest, "Oof," Jack fell to the ground, but with lance still in hand, he charged at Raphael. Raphael had regained the advantage over his opponent, and charged toward him as well. Jack's lance had a greater reach, and he thrust it eagerly near Raphael's head. He quickly evaded the lunge, taking the hit in his shoulder armor, spun to knock the lance out of Jack's reach, and kicked him down holding him with a practice sword pointed at his neck.

Jack let out a sigh, "Yield" he called and the two separated. Raphael, never a sore winner, helped Jack to his feet.

"Excellent match, boys," Priam called, "Jack, you had the advantage, but don't let this minor setback cause you to distress, you were wise in picking the lance. If you had chosen to fight with a sword, I'm sure your opponent would have beaten you in no time. The next battle will be Aramis against Tia," she let out a gleeful 'yay!' and clapped her hands, Aramis rolled his eyes.

"No sweat," Aramis replied as he pulled out his Elfire tome, "I'll take down this pipsqueak in no time! Don't even bother with tagging in old-timer."

Priam didn't plan on it, he turned to Aramis with a smile, "So you are comfortable just using wind gust magic? Nothing powerful?"

Aramis was shocked, "What?! But that is-"

"You don't make the rules, I do." Priam interrupted, "We don't want any serious injuries on the first day of training. We may move out at any time, so we must be ready. Everyone should be healthy."

Aramis grumbled and put away his tome, replacing it with the Wind tome.

The next two fighters went to opposite sides of the ring and waited for the signal. Tanuitia wore an extremely serious face, it wasn't forced, it wasn't applied. It was a completely different face from the one he had seen all day, which was giddy and gleeful. _She must really want this to have a complete attitude change, such as thi-_ "Hey, we're waiting...!" Aramis impatiently called out to Priam.

That was the last straw, "Aramis, give me five laps around the camp, NOW!" he barked out, Aramis grumbled and complied. After he had left their ear shot, Priam explained how the new change would work.

"Clarisa, you will fight Tia."

"But why don't you fight?" Nathaniel asked out of curiosity.

"Because I never go easy..." He chuckled, "Clarisa, enter the ring."

Clarisa obeyed and entered the ring with her pegasus, she had a tremendous advantage over Tanuitia, but still, Tia bore no face of worry.

Remembering that one of his soldiers was still running, he called out to Aramis, "GO", who had just passed. His words were mistaken by the combatants in the arena and they charged at each other.

"Hey, Tanuitia, no hard feelings?" Clarisa asked aloud as she rode her pegasus forward.

"Of course not." Tia said with a grim smile.

Clarisa lunged forward toward Tia's legs, causing Tia to tumble. Tia used her tumble to roll underneath the pegasus and she performed a rising attack behind them. It hit both the pegasus and rider, and both responded in pain. _Hmm... I've seen that move before. _Priam thought_Say'ri taught it to me, but she said only elite myrmidons and mercenaries knew how to perform it..._ Clarisa pulled her pegasus to climb, and when she reached an appropriate height, they looped and performed a nose-dive directed at Tia. She saw this and tried to evade backwards, but this is where they pulled out of the nose-dive, she had fallen into Clarisa's trap. She nailed Tia in the stomach and forced her from the ring.

"Excellent air maneuvering, Clarisa." she blushed, but Priam didn't know why, "That was smart to make Tia believe you would land somewhere else. But Tia," He turned to Tia, who was watching the stars spin around her head, "Where did you learn the 'Flyers Bane' move? Not many people are able to execute that as you did."

"Well," Tia started when she had regained her thoughts, "my cousin is a very skilled myrmidon and I saw her perform it once, so I practiced it until I could execute it perfectly!" She said with a spring in her step at being praised for her performance.

Priam questioned her, "Who is your cousin, Tia? I might know her."

"I know that you do, because she-" she was cut off by a voice coming from around the corner.

"Tanuitia!" Priam recognized the voice and turned to see Say'ri storming toward the young myrmidon. "There you are! I can nay believe you would deceive your parents! They show great worry! You have been gone for a whole day without telling them of your destination!"

"Aw, come on, Say'ri! I really want to be like you, but they won't let me. I signed up for this to be adventurous like you and your tales! Finding love is for another ti-"

"ENOUGH!" Say'ri commanded. She was blushing, but happy that Priam hadn't heard the rest of what Tia had to say. "I wish for you to be safe, Tanuitia." she continued in sincerity, "becoming a myrmidon at such an early age can be quite difficult."

"YOU were a myrmidon at age 14! I'm 16! I can handle myself in a fight!" Tia began to raise her voice, "If you had seen how I handled the last fight-"

"You were removed from the ring, only getting one hit in!" Say'ri yelled in exasperation.

Silence fell on the group.

Priam decided to dismiss the rest of the troops to remove them from the awkward position they were in. The team left in silence, and the only ones left on the training grounds were Priam, Say'ri, and Tanuitia.

"..my whole life..." Tia started, a tear slowly descending down her face, "...I've wanted to be as strong as you... You are what I strive for. Perfection..." Tia then began to softly cry, "I thought, if I could get good with a sword, then maybe I could be just like my cousin... *sniffle*..."

Say'ri embraced her cousin to try to calm her down, patting her on the back and speaking softly, "If this means so much to you, then we will have word with your parents. But I must know," she turned to face Priam, "do you think she will be fine?" Priam nodded.

"You mean it?" Tia asked, wiping her eyes dry of tears. Say'ri nodded.

"But if you are allowed by your parents, then you must dedicate yourself to Sir Priam's teachings."

"OhThankyouThankyouThankyouThankyou, Thank you!" She blurted out as fast as she could, jumping up and down in Say'ri's grip. The Princess of Chon'sin didn't move.

"We still must ask your parents, come. Let us go speak with them."

Say'ri had her right arm wrapped around her little cousin as they strode to the residential area. Priam sighed with relief after they were out of sight.

"Excuse me, sir." Priam turned to see Raphael standing behind him.

"Raphael, good to see you're still here, but I dismissed you ten minutes ago."

Raphael held a sword at his side, the sheath to it seemed familiar to Priam. The handle of the sword inside was also similar. Priam realized what this was about.

"Kid," he asked as calmly as possible, "what the hell are you doing with my sword?"

Raphael scratched at the scar on the side of his face out of nervousness.

"T-this sword is not the same one you wield, sir. Your Ragnell is where you left it." he pointed to the table where Ragnell lay. Priam was slightly confused as Raphael unsheathed his and looked at it in an examining manner. "This one was given to me by my uncle, who told me tales of how my father possessed it and fought with it..." his voice trailed of as Priam pieced the facts together and realized who the kid was. Shock spread across his face, but it was quickly replaced by a smile.

"... You're a little late." Priam said with a chuckle, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

**HEY!...The next chapter is easily the shortest of the bunch (except for the first chapter) By the time you are done reading this, the next chapter should be uploaded. Both chapters were extremely short so I decided to upload them on the same day to get them out of the way.**

**Chapter 8 is easily my favorite one to write and revise, I can't wait to upload it, but school starts soon and I will have to put studies over stories... :( Nonetheless, I promise to keep updating this story until it is complete. There may be long periods of time where nothing is added, but it will be completed!**

**Shoutout to COOKIECHEESEMAN: I laughed at your unintentional pun: "...Somehow I was ****_hooked _****since the beginning..." It's funny, because, y'know, coughyou'reafishcouch.**

**As always, leave a review with what what was good, what was bad, and what was too nerdy. Favorites and Follows are also appreciated. I am also still looking for one more First-gen paralogue parent idea, thinking something with Anna... The Walhart and Emmeryn story is in its first stages and I can't wait to publish the first two chapters.**

**PM me anytime. I will literally talk to anyone, including the most introverted people you know. I am always excited at meeting new and nerdy people.**

**Oh yeah and before I forget: Thanks again.**

**~TheSearcherer**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Raphael, Son of Priam, Descendant of Ike

"So you know the others from the future? Lucina, Owain, Inigo?"

"Yeah, dad." Raphael replied. He had just introduced himself as Priam's son, so he naturally called him 'father'.

"And I was dead, you never knew me?" Priam questioned.

"Well... My uncle, Yen'fay, told of your heroics and passion for fighting. But I mainly learned of you through this..." Raphael pulled out a dusty journal from his satchel. He held it out in front of him to show Priam that it had his name on it along with a title, The Warrior's Way. Priam laughed, realizing it was his journal. "This was your journal that you turned into a guidebook for young, upcoming warriors. It had the tale of you fighting a bear at age 12 and thanking the mountain air that you survived. It was the only way I... I could hear you speak..."

Trying to change the subject before his son became completely depressed, he asked, "Why were you later than the other children?"

Repositioning himself, he placed his elbow on the table they were now sitting at and pondered it for himself.

"I don't know, really. It could have been that I was the last one through. You see, Naga had told us of the rite, and how to perform it. So after successfully completing it, Grima caught wind of our plan and summoned Risen from all over the place. Grima did not want us to change any of the future, so he sent hordes upon hordes upon us. Laurent was the first through the portal, but he didn't see that two Risen had followed him. Lucina rushed after the two Risen and was soon no longer with us. I, being the strongest of the ones left, decided to coordinate who went through next; weakest to strongest. After everyone had passed though but me, I observed that Grima himself was trying to stop the rite by conducting the Risen himself." He paused momentarily to regain his thoughts. He looked at the lantern hanging in Priam's tent, remembering the final moments in his time, "I thought about meeting my glorious end there, fighting the Fell-Dragon to keep my friends safe in the past to save the future. Nothing could have been a better end to a warrior, but as fate would have it, I was accidentally knocked in by a Risen's Rexcaliber spell. I tumbled around and around until ending up in this time near the Garden of Giants."

"But by the time you got there..."

"Right, you had already gone to face the Fell-Dragon with Chrom and his Shepherds."

"Excellent." Priam said with a sigh, "I have finally caught up!"

Raphael started to look around the tent, a look of curiosity in his eye.

"Is something wrong?" He asked Raphael.

"Something just caught my attention... Why do you have a tent when you could be living with mom?"

Priam's face showed equal signs of embarrassment and shock. "Er, well, son, in this timeline..." he coughed nervously, "your mother and I haven't... y'know... gotten married..."

"So I do not exist in this time yet?" He asked as plain as he could. Priam thought for several minutes before replying.

"...no."

"well..." he said with a bit of concern, leaning back in his chair at the revelation, "...that is just... a little frightening knowing that I don't exist... whatsoever..."

Priam had to think, _what if Say'ri discovered his real identity? Would she feel obligated to marry me? I don't even know how she feels about me. I don't want that happening... _

Then they heard a tapping on his tent flap. They both looked at each other in shock as they recognized the voice, "Sir Priam, it has come to my attention that you missed dinner, so I have brought you some left-overs."

"Enter" Priam called, shooting a look of 'don't let her know' at Raphael. He was confused at first, but understood. She entered the room with a tray of two meals. She was slightly embarrassed by the other man's presence and was suddenly flustered.

"I... I had no idea you had a person in here. If you wish, I can leave your meal here-"

"N-no!" Priam blurted out, uncharacteristic to him, he was just as flustered as her, _she brought two trays of food. Does she want to eat here?_ "He was just leaving." He turned to Raphael and nodded, but Raphael paid no attention. He saw his mother, and his emotions took him for half a second. Just long enough for him to say,

"mother..."

"...what?" Say'ri shot him a confused look, but then Raphael quickly acted like he was finishing a sentence, "...of Naga! What a workout today, sir Priam." he started to rub his arm, acting sore, "I'll see you early tomorrow for the next set of exercises." with that, he saluted Priam and stumbled quite clumsily out of the tent.

"Farewell, Raphael." Priam called after him, hoping that it would mask Raphael calling her 'mother'.

It worked.

"Raphael," she thought aloud, "I find that name very suitable for that man."

Priam chuckled, "Me too." He then gestured for Say'ri to take the empty seat across from him that Raphael once occupied.

"My gratitude, Priam." she replied with a smile as she sat. She handed him a meal tray, and began eating her meal that she had brought along.

The only noise heard in the tent was the scrapping of silverware against the trays. Neither of them said anything, and Say'ri avoided eye contact with him altogether even though she was blushing already. The silence between them was unnerving to Priam. He wanted to end it, but how?

"So," Priam spoke, finally breaking the silence, "what is the news on your biggest fan?" he said with a grin.

"Her parents wish to have words with you." Say'ri replied in an unchanging manner, "they want to see if she is capable by making tests for her, but they want you to make the tests."

"She is a little ball of energy, I'll give her that." he smiled and pointed his fork at her, "She is

ermined to become your successor." Priam had finished eating and leaned over the table to convey his feelings on the matter more openly, "If she had to chose someone to idolize, you should be glad it's you."

Say'ri blushed more profusely, "Surely you jest. I am a normal and average person and everyone sees me as such."

"Whoever said that, I'll gut them for lying to the Princess of Chon'sin." He may have been a little too open. She looked half appalled and half worried at his statement, _I probably shouldn't have said that, but oh well. _He continued to speak, "You know me well, Say'ri. And you know that flattery is something I have NEVER practiced."

Say'ri stuttered, "I-I..." she couldn't find the right words and her mouth opened and closed several times.

"You don't believe me?" Priam said in a sigh. He moved over to her side of the table, got down on one leg and took one of her hands and grasped it with both of his. She blushed and tried to avoid his gaze. He continued, "let me list of your top three characteristics: number one is Intelligence. You came up with the idea to free the Voice at the Mila Tree with Chrom's soldiers to rally the Resistance, am I correct?" she nodded in response, "second, you are Courageous. You tried to unite the Resistance, you were hounded by Walhart's men, but you never gave up. And three..." He pondered whether to say this last one, but he had already started to say it, and she needed to hear it. "...You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the fortune to meet." he stood up and pulled her to her feet, "...and let no one tell you otherwise." His eyes were sincere and she did not argue the point anymore. They stood there for a couple moments.

He then moved to grab his tray to return it to the mess tent, but his hand was held fast by Say'ri. He turned to ask what the matter was, but Say'ri didn't give him the chance. She pulled him close and kissed him. He had never been kissed his entire life, he had no want to, but now, his emotions held his lips to hers. He felt overwhelming power surge through every ounce of his body. He felt like in that moment, he could run straight through a mountain without stopping, like he could take on TWO Grimas single-handedly, like he could jump to the moon and retrieve her a precious stone from its surface. He kissed back and, for the first time in his life, he was joyful.

She broke off the kiss, and stepped back. She was blushing from ear to ear. She tried to speak, but all that came out was nonsense to Priam. He finally heard her say under her breath, "I...I have to... goodnight." She bolted out of his tent, leaving him slightly confused. His heart was untameable at the moment and he was on cloud nine. He sat down, smiling, on the chair and pondered the night he had just experienced... _Love is not an easy path, but one I'm willing to travel for her. _

**HEY!...THAT is my attempt at 'fluff-stuff' as one of my friends called it. I don't think I did it justice, to be honest, and I already have written another 'fluff' chapter for down the road.**

**So the problem with this chapter was identified and corrected. Windows 8 thought it would be funny to take one whole paragraph and transport it to another location in the story... :( If you still see problems with this chapter then it is from my own lack of experience.**

**Raphael is Priam's son, as some of you noticed. (*sarcastic tone* I thought I had hidden it so well...) but not the son of this time's Priam, duh. That is why he acts all 'lone-wolf' for this story, because his father believed in those "you have to learn it yourself" philosophies. (I hate time paradoxes...)**

**To be honest, Chapters 5 and 8 have been my favorites for the entire story. They both reveal interesting things for the story later on down the road, not to mention the new characters they both bring.**

**Like always, please leave a review of what you think was good and bad. PM me anytime ya feel like it; to give me suggestions for other paralogue parent pairings (aka PPP) or just if you need to talk to someone *cue song: "Lean on Me", Boyz II Men*. I thank you for those who have already followed and favorited my story, and ask others to do the same.**

**Thanks again, I mean it!**

**~TheSearcherer**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

What Do Women Want?

Priam wandered the camp pondering the events that transpired last night. Raphael revealed his true identity as his son, he shared dinner with Say'ri, she kissed him and left his tent making his heart beat erratically. It was now obvious how they felt for each other, and it would only be a matter of time before he had to make a move before she got upset with him. But he had no idea where to move from here. He had been having a lot of 'firsts' recently, and for the first time in his life, he had no idea what to do. He was confused.

A voice interrupted his thoughts and they were put on hold, "Sir Priam!" Priam recognized the voice, it was Yen'fay.

"Hey 'Fay, what can I do for you." he said, hoping that he could do something to distract himself from his thoughts.

"The Chon'sin War Council requests your presence immediately, your team's first mission has been issued." He responded, his face showed that it was not the only thing on his mind.

"Good, anything else?"

"Well, I..." Yen'fay stopped, contemplated for a few moments and smiled, "Nay, nothing. Fare thee well, sir."

As he walked away, Priam new he wanted to say something, but he put it to the back of his mind and headed to Youri'jik, the capital of Chon'sin. It was a short walk, and soon he had made it through the busy streets full of vendors and merchants.

But unfortunately, the last merchant would not let him pass by. She called out to him, "Priam! Just the hero I want to see!"

Priam identified the voice with a face and turned around to see Anna beaming at him.

"Anna, do you need something immediately from me?" he was slowly walking backwards toward the direction he was already headed, "Or can I come back after I have finished speaking with the Chon'sin War Counsel?"

She looked at him intently, as if staring into his thoughts. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable. She then let a smirk cover her face.

"Oh, it's nothing important... but you need to return after you're done to get my tips on romancing that girl who is on your mind!"

She chuckled at the sight of his surprised expression. He stopped in his tracks. He didn't know what to say. "How did you... who saw... he didn't... she was..."

She kept smiling at his discomfort, "Hm? The mighty descendant of Ike, dumbstruck?" She let out a laugh as she teased him.

He was done with this, he unsheathed Ragnell and put the point at her neck. She was shocked, to say the least. When she had stopped squirming, he calmly informed her, "If ANY of this where to suddenly be leaked, then your blood may follow suit." he then returned Ragnell to his side and continued, "but I do wish to speak with you on this matter more..." he was blushing slightly, and Anna could tell.

"U-understood..." she said as she grasped her throat from when the blade had rested on it.

"Then I shall see you in two to three hours, 'til then, good day." Priam bowed and walked toward the Dynast Hall where all the meetings for the realm where discussed.

After Priam was out of earshot, Anna groaned, "that man does NOT know how to treat a lady OR get a joke..." She continued to grumble until another customer appeared and her typical merchant demeanor returned, "Oh, come on in!"

* * *

Priam wandered the halls trying to find where the War Counsel was. He journeyed through several passages and hundreds of doors until finding a person to direct him to the room he wanted. Five minutes later, he entered the door to the War Counsel chambers, seeing Say'ri and three other men, one in a black cloak in the back, hood up so Priam couldn't identify the man, one clad in heavy armor with a mustache being the only hair on his head, and another wearing priestly garbs with red hair peaking out of his cap. As he entered, all turned to see him and the man in the armor greeted him with enthusiasm.

"G'day, sir! How did you find your journey?"

"Easily enough," he said, looking around the room at the strangers, "but enough about me, I believe we have some introductions that need to be made."

"But you already know two of us." Said a familiar voice coming from the cloak. The man lowered his hood to reveal it was Robin. Priam could have guessed that it was his old friend, but Say'ri still clouded his thoughts, making it impossible for his senses to work as hard as they normally do.

"Robin," he said, trying not to sound surprised, "what brings you down to Chon'sin?"

"A matter that we shall discuss shortly enough," said the priest in a calm manner, "but as you have mentioned before, we need to introduce ourselves." he gestured to the armor-clad man. "This man here is known as Cervantes, a former commander for the Valmese during Walhart's reign. He has offered his services for the betterment of this continent."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, lad." as he held out his hand. "You took out a good number of our forces during the war, alone! I'm utterly baffled of how you managed to stay alive. Baffled!" He said with a smile, Priam shook his hand and returned the smile.

"I want to know how YOU stayed alive" Robin said under his breath, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. Robin remembered well when he struck down the mustached General with his Thoron, but here he stood before him, it made him testy.

"A story for another day, eh wot?" He turned to the tactician in the corner, giving him an uneasy smile.

"Let me introduce myself," the priest extended his hand, "they call me Martin, and I am a priest who led the Resistance during the final stretch of the war after the death of Yen'fay. I now rule the new, diplomatic Valm." Priam shook the leader of Valm's hand, "and now that the introductions are finished..." he turned to Robin to give him the floor.

"Thank you, Martin. Now, Priam, I have been informed that you are making an elite group of fighters as we speak, correct?"

Priam nodded, "And I have finally come up with a name: 'Greil's Defenders'."

"Named after the Greil Mercenaries? Greil as in Ike's father?"

"The very same." Priam replied with a smile.

"Excellent. Now, on to business..." Robin shuffled through the papers that were set on the table in front of him, finding a couple of pages that seemed like letters. "These here are letters from citizens of Valm, Regna Ferox, and Ylisse, showing where Risen have attacked. Each of these letters say that the Risen were being ordered by the Grimleal, the same ones you had a confrontation with on the Long Sea."

"The Risen are more prominent in the continent of Ylisse ," Martin informed Priam, "the Chon'sinians, Rosanneans and Valmese have been successful in fending for themselves. But as Ylisse is our most stalwart ally-"

"-we've agreed to assist them by sending our most elite force to help quell the epidemic." Say'ri spoke up. "We know that your unit just assembled a couple nights ago, but mayhaps if you can handle yourselves-"

"The Defenders will be thrilled to hear this news!" Priam said excitedly, "We shall call a meeting at once to announce our first mission."

"Smashing good, sir Priam!" Cervantes put a hand on Priam's shoulder, "I daresay I like you already!"

There was something about Cervantes that didn't sit well with Priam. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was nothing villainous or even foul. Maybe it was the way is armor looked? But he put the thought out of his mind to focus on the matter at hand.

"Then it is agreed," Say'ri said in a diplomatic tone, turning to Ylisse's highest ranking tactician, "Ylisse are to receive our elite unit, 'Greil's Defenders', and Cervantes shall lead our forces here in Valm to stop the Grimleal menace."

"Sounds like a strategy." Robin said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Mobilize your troops, Priam. We head to Port Valm at dawn in two days."

"Excellent. This meeting is adjourned." Say'ri said, "Thank you all for coming." with that, she left the room with Priam watching her leave.

Martin and Cervantes also left the room, but Robin stayed behind, wishing to talk to Priam.

"Priam, why are you staring at the door?" Priam paid his old comrade no attention, still staring at the door where Say'ri left.

"PRIAM!" Robin shouted, Priam spun around in shock.

"Robin, what are you still doing here?"

"I was going to talk to you about this fog your head is in." Robin knocked on Priam's head. "It's not like you to be in a daze. What is on your mind?"

Priam sighed, rubbing his head in pain, and sat down at the paper-filled table. "Well, a new emotion has found its way into my heart: love."

"I see," Robin said with a smirk as he sat down next to his friend. "please continue."

Priam went on to explain how the different feelings changed his mood, about the night he sacrificed himself for Say'ri, and the night they kissed.

Robin was smiling, "I didn't think someone like you would ever need love, but I appear to be wrong."

"I am not finished..." Priam let out a large breath of air before continuing, "I... I have a child ...with Say'ri."

Robin became alarmed, "B-but you just found out your feelings for her! I thought you just kissed! Why would you-"

"Calm down, friend..." Priam said in a soft tone and setting a hand on Robin's shoulder, "I speak of a child from the future."

Robin's eyes widened, "But I thought we met all of the children." Robin was now being his usually skeptical self, "Are you sure this person isn't faking?"

"He has Ragnell, Robin. He got it from Yen'fay as a child. There is no way you're telling me that more than one Ragnell exists in this time and dimension."

"...Astounding...Why would Lucina not mention him?"

"He was going to sacrifice himself so the other children would escape. Maybe Lucina didn't want us to be saddened by this thought."

"...Hm," Priam could practically hear the gears turning in Robin's head. "Oh, well... this isn't as important as you and Say'ri's relationship."

Priam blushed, "Well, that is the problem, where do I go from here? What do women want?"

"Well for starters I-" Robin was interrupted by a knocking on the door-frame, a red-headed pegasus knight entered the room.

"Are you ready to go, Robin?" Cordelia asked as she stood in the doorway with a smile on her face. "I want to see the cherry trees bloom before we head back to the inn."

Robin returned the smile, "In a minute, Cordelia. Priam is having woman problems."

"Oh?" Cordelia chuckled, Priam rested his elbow on the table with his head resting in his hand, he grumbled, "...Oh great." She looked at him quizzically, but she continued, "I just had a conversation with a woman with MAN problems."

"Priam needs some ideas for a date, and I'm sure that you have some." Robin said to his wife, knowing full well how much of a romanticist she was.

"of COURSE I do!" Cordelia turned to Priam and put an arm on his shoulder, "Pull out a paper and pencil, this will be on the final test." she said with a chuckle.

"I don't like the sound of this..." Priam groaned.

* * *

Priam again was in the market area of Youri'jik, looking for Anna. While he no longer needed her help, thanks to Cordelia and Robin, he still promised her that he would see her and he was not one to go against his word, even once.

He rounded a corner and found Anna closing up her stall. _Why is she closing shop?_ He pondered. He then tapped her on the shoulder to notify his arrival.

She spun around, startled, and let out a faint squeak. Seeing who it was, she put a hand on her chest to slow her heart rate.

"D-don't you know it isn't polite to sneak up on a lady? I'm still a little jumpy from when a sword was at my THROAT!" She said with a growl.

Priam chuckled, "I only wished to inform you that I no longer need your assistance."

She raised an eyebrow, "Hm? But I haven't even helped you yet!"

"Well I don't need it." he showed her a small parcel of paper with several scribbles of writings and sketches. "I have all the ideas I need to make this a stable relationship, got it from a couple of friends." He patted the papers and grinned.

"Did you get that from Robin and Cordelia?" Anna asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, they told me... wait... how did you know-"

Anna put a finger up to silence him, "I know what every facial expression and emotion stands for in a person, its all part of being a successful merchant. Besides," she said with a wink, "I saw Cordelia speaking with Say'ri outside Dynast Hall, and I saw Robin enter it earlier. Everyone came out except you two."

"Huh..." Priam thought aloud, "you are clever. Why have YOU never found a man and settled down."

"Mua?" Anna spoke, looking aghast, "'settle down'? I don't know the meaning of the sentence! But still..." She then blushed a little, and spoke quieter so that only Priam could hear, "...The only man that I was ever interested in is flying away on his wife's pegasus as we speak." she pointed at Robin, who was preparing to mount Cordelia's pegasus. The two kissed, exchanged a few words, and flew off. Anna watched as they left, "I'm not the type to be envious;" she continued, still staring at the dot in the distance, "'If you want something, work to get it' my mother used to tell me and my sisters. But with Robin, I was too slow, and he found a better wife than I could have been. But I still find it oddly ironic that little miss 'swoon-for-Chrom' got the only man to make ME swoon..."

Priam patted her on the shoulder with a smile on his face, "Be brave, merchant. You have a thief problem with your stall, right? Well someone is bound to steal your heart, as you steal his."

"...Wow," Anna said, turning to Priam after the pegasus was no longer in sight, "You are a very great friend... But enough about me, let's talk about YOUR love life."

"Ugh." he was sick of talking about his love life. He appreciated everyone's help, but he felt like it should be between him and Say'ri; not the rest of the world.

"I know where she stands on the subject, I overheard her talking to Cordelia after all."

"So you know it is Say'ri who has possession of my heart."

"Absolutely! You should have heard her talk about you! But why haven't you asked her to spend some time with you? I mean, you guys already kissed!"

"Ah yes," Priam was sent back into the cloud which fogged his thoughts and started to think of that kiss...

"Earth to Priam! Can you hear me?" she said loudly, snapping her fingers in front of his face. She laughed as he snapped out of it, it was funny to see his face contort in confusion.

"Er, yes... well, anyway, I plan on having a picnic with her in the woods behind the barracks. No one will see us, and we can be perfectly alone. We can discuss what is on our hearts, and try to understand each other better. At least, that is what I was told..." He looked down on the papers, trying to remember the full plan.

"Sounds like an excellent idea! Call me for the wedding, I'm an excellent caterer!" She said as she put her finger on her chin. "Well, I'm going to rest up, I have a long journey tomorrow."

Priam was confused, "The march is in two days, not tomorrow."

"I'm not going with you guys, silly!" She said with a smile, "I need to be there early to set up shop for everyone! 'til then, may the gods of the open road find you!" she then entered her tent, and was out of sight.

_I can't believe she had a crush on Robin, _he thought. He chuckled slightly at the image of Robin trying to help Anna with the business, trying to sell Elixirs and Concoctions tactically, and getting scolded by Anna for not arranging the merchandise right. _She'll find someone if she keeps looking... _He soon rounded a corner and changed his thoughts to Tanuitia's tests for becoming a myrmidon.

* * *

**HEY!...Shoutout to my betareader, he really helped me correct most of the mistakes I made, and I thank him for that.**

**Yes, Cervantes is back! I love this NPC boss, so I was like, "I'm sure I can use him down the line..." so expect to see him reappear (with bountiful mustache jokes.)**

**I placed Anna in the story because of Cormag Ravenstaff, he gave me the idea for the next pairing I am going to write, which includes Anna (duh). I was originally planning on having Robin married to Anna in this book, but I like the CordeliaxRobin marriage more and I found it gave Robin more mobility with his wife's pegasus.**

**So there you have it, Chapter 8. Now that I look at it, I don't think it was as good as I thought it was... But I'll let you decide. Leave a review, criticize my writing styles, praise my works, ANYTHING! PM me anytime, I'll talk to anyone without gills... (Still not on speaking terms...)**

**Thanks again for staying with the story this long, because it will get MUCH longer!**

**~TheSearcherer**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Tia's Tests

"Step forward, novice myrmidon." Priam commanded to Tia.

She rubbed her eyes to remove the remnants of sleep that impaired her vision, it was early for her, but she would have to get used to waking before the sun. They all had too. They were marching in one day, and they had to wake early to be prepared. It was all part of being in an army

Tia steadied her training sword against her shoulder.

"You will have three tests challenging your abilities in the following categories: Speed, Strength, and your warrior mentality." He held a stone in front of her face, and continued, "your first test requires you to move that pile of rocks from there to there." he indicated where he wished the stones to be moved, and it was a good 50 yards.

"Is this to test my strength?" Tanuitia asked, still puzzled.

"You shall soon find out." Priam informed her, "begin."

She ran to the pile that was almost as tall as she was. She began moving the stones as fast as she could. _This is to test her mentality, _Priam reminded himself, _I put the smaller rocks on top of boulders, underneath the largest one there is a note... _

She continued for thirty minutes with much vigor, but when she started to get to the heavier boulders, she slowed her pace in disappointment.

S_he's starting to give up. She will fail the first test before it is even finished... Oh well, the weak-willed fall to the strong._

After an hour had passed, she was still going at it, at last getting to the note underneath the largest boulder. The note read: _you have failed. _If she ignored the note and continued to move the boulder, she would pass.

To Priam's surprise, she continued to lift the last boulder to its destination. She set the boulder down and heaved a large sigh of relief and sadness. "I lifted all of the boulders to their destination, sir Priam, but I appear to have failed somehow..." She looked downcast. Priam let out a light chuckle. She was confused by his lightheartedness in this moment.

"On the contrary," Priam said with a smile, "you passed the 'Warrior's Mentality Test'." He extended a hand for congratulations, but she jumped up and hugged him around his neck with a cry of joy.

"Don't be so joyful yet, you still have two more to take, both more challenging that the one you faced here." She groaned from all of the heavy lifting she had done the past hour. He chuckled and continued, "but as I can see on the horizon, the sun has begun to awaken, and our comrades with it. Breakfast will start soon, so be back here in half an hour for your second test. Dismissed!"

She released him from her grip, saluted and skipped happily towards the mess tent.

Priam smiled at her lightheartedness, and raised a training sword to spar with a dummy. He laid many skillful hits on it before he recognized the presence of another person watching him.

"My overzealous cousin informs me that she passed the first of sir Priam's tests with flying colors," said Say'ri, returning from the mess tent.

"Yes, I was afraid that she would give up, but it appears to just be a lack of strength." He continued to slash at the dummy, tearing it to shreds with his dulled practice sword.

"Hmm... " Say'ri watched as Priam cut the training dummy to bits, Priam wondered if something was amiss.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, momentarily ceasing his training.

"It appears," she walked over to the training dummy and set a hand on it, "that you are not as strong as the Priam we knew in the battle to slay Grima." she said with a smirk. Priam hated to be called weak. He could never truly hate Say'ri, but his blood boiled at those words, nonetheless.

"You think me weak?!" Priam said loudly with a raised eyebrow, chuckling lightly to hide his anger.

She stifled a laugh, "More or less." she unsheathed a training sword she had brought along, she must have planned this, "I could talk for hours of how you've changed, but this will get my point across in half the time." at the word 'point', she lifted the sword and pointed it at him.

He smirked, "You know that I don't hold back, even in sparring, right?"

"I am not afraid of losing, but you are." They entered a sparring ring on opposite sides, "After this spar, you shall see your fear become a reality." She readied herself in the swordsmaster stance, holding the blade parallel to her face.

"While you are a skilled fighter in your own right, I do not wish for you to be hurt." He took the Hero's stance, sword pointed away from him, arm shield ready to deflect any strike. "Call 'yield' when you've had enough."

Priam then recalled Yen'fay telling him something along these lines from his own time... _Blast! Why can't I remember who won our spar?_ Priam then observed that a man was standing on the hill next to the training grounds, watching. He could only see the silhouette of the man, but he was clad in myrmidon armor.

Say'ri broke the silence between them. "Fie, begin!" She darted toward him, barely touching the ground. Almost as if she slid on a cushion of air. Priam deflected her most obvious attack with his armshield. He then retaliated with a horizontal swing, finding nothing but air. He was shocked when she completed a perfect back-flip to avoid his attack. _Alright, I underestimated her. Let's see what she can do! _He fought back, fast as a cheetah. But she fought very efficiently, trying to understand his attack patterns. She fought methodically, trying to find a weakness in his armor or attack maneuvering.

_She is studying me, _Priam thought, with satisfaction as he jumped in a spin-attack, hitting her blade. _My attack patterns are known of nowhere in the world, and are too efficient to have any weaknesses. _

But he was wrong. Say'ri had discovered that after he would block with his armshield, he would take a large swing at her, moving his armshield to reveal a point where there was no armor. He moved fast enough to keep that one spot covered, but she saw the window of opportunity and took it.

She vertically slashed and, as she suspected, Priam blocked it with his armshield. But this time, when he went to strike, she was ready for him. She lunged at the open area in his armor and he was caught off guard.

"Gah!" he groaned as the dulled metal hit him in the side of his chest, hard. It had been where he was hit during the skirmish on the boat and it still had a bruise there. She had found a weakness and she was going to use it to her advantage. She swung in a diagonal line, meeting Priam's blade which was headed upwards. The sound of the two dull metal practice swords clashing rang through his body. She quickly shoved his sword away from her, the sword still tightly in his grip. He was still trying to regain his senses when he felt a powerful force hitting him square in the chest. He fell, with sword still in hand. Say'ri immediately stood over him, sword pointed at his throat, and her foot on his sword arm. A look of shock passed over his face.

"Yield." Say'ri instructed him with a smile of satisfaction.

Priam grumbled something that not even he could hear. She laughed and spoke again.

"Pardon?" She said with a smile, pressing the blade against his adam's apple. "I couldn't hear."

"...yield" he said in despair. He had remembered who won the fight that Yen'fay had told him about: her. She assisted him to his feet and dusted him off.

He looked dejected. He had never lost a spar in his life. She merely patted him on the shoulder to bring his attention to her.

"It appears I have taken your honor." she said with a smile.

"Is there a way I can win back my honor?" he said with a smirk, thinking about the plan for the picnic.

"Hmm..." Say'ri put a finger to her chin in the same manner as Anna. "You could invite me to accompany you to dinner. But I think that is the only way..." She said with a playful smile. Priam was relieved, his plan (well, Cordelia's plan) would most likely go smoothly.

He returned her smile and agreed. "When the mess hall rings for dinner, meet me in that clearing in the woods there," he pointed to the woods where he knew that directly behind the trees and shrub, there was an opening near the pond. "bring something to drink, and I shall prepare the food."

Her face was beaming at the news. She nodded, "Fie, I shall bring the best drink Chon'sin has to offer. Fare thee well!" She bowed politely and walked back to the main road.

Priam didn't know what to think at the moment. The woman of his dreams had just beaten him in a spar. He had never lost a spar, it was like a hard hit to the groin that was his pride. But she also was wanting to spend time with him later which he rejoiced inwardly over. Was this a good moment, or a bad moment?

The silhouette of the myrmidon on the hill moved closer, and as he did, Priam recognized who it was; Yen'fay.

"Surprising," He said with a smirk, "You were warned of this spar, that she would win, and you still lost."

Priam chuckled, "Yeah, I know. I guess destiny doesn't like change that often." he turned to put away his training sword, "So you saw the battle?"

"Aye, from atop the hill, yonder. You did nearly the exact same thing that happened in my time, except you had a smaller crowd."

Priam shivered at the thought of people seeing him defeated in a simple spar.

Almost as if reading his thoughts, Yen'fay patted him on the back and reassured him. "I was the only one watching this time. No other laid their eyes on your clash."

"Thanks, 'Fay." Priam walked over to a bucket of water and set it up as to let water droplets flow out at one every half-second. "Tanuitia will be out here for her second test any minute now, so I need to be prepared."

"Fie," Yen'fay replied, "I shall leave you to it." Yen'fay bowed respectfully and left.

The next test was to check her speed. The bucket had been punctured by a small nail to let water drops out. She was to grab the stick holding up the bucket by swinging her hand underneath the small opening. If she got water on her hand from the droplets, she would have to dry it off and start over. If she successfully grabbed the stick, the water would cascade down on her if she didn't move fast enough, and she would have to start over again.

She was puzzled by his directions, but complied anyway. She made several attempts to just grab it as fast as possible, resulting in a wet hand almost every time. She then understood she needed to time it right. After several minutes of watching and counting, she readied her hand, made one swift swing, and grabbed the stick. The bucket began to tumble, but she avoided it with ease; she passed her second test.

"Excellent. You understand that patience and speed must work in unison to be an effective myrmidon. But this was far from your hardest test..." His voice became serious, and he wore a grim face.

She bent down and picked up the sword she had left on the ground before starting the second test, "Well I'm ready for whatever you have to throw at me!" she replied with a face of determination.

"You must face each of your comrades here in a spar." he pointed towards the entrance as the defenders started to line up, from weakest to strongest. The group consisted of Raphael, Nathaniel, and Aramis. The ones absent were Jack, Clarisa, and Helen. "To pass, you must defeat each of them once. You have one loss before the next loss fails you. You may choose who to fight first but remember, they are allowed to ride their mount."

Tanuitia faced her comrades, who were standing in 'attention'. "Hmm..." she scratched her head as she glanced over each of her allies, looking at their strength. "I choose Raphael first."

Raphael smirked, and Priam was shocked she had chosen him. _That was a smart move _he thought to himself, _she wants to get hm out of the way so that when she fights later, it will get easier for her. _"Understood," Priam replied, showing the combatants to the circle, "you both know the rules so I don't have to go over them again...BEGIN!"

Priam stepped from between them, and they charged. Raphael, from what Priam knew, didn't care who he was fighting. He treated all adversaries as enemies, much like Priam. Though Priam knew that Tia would make for a slippery target, even if Raphael was deadly accurate.

Raphael made the first attack, bringing his sword straight down upon Tanuitia's head. She blocked it with her own sword, and the metal clashing rang in everyone's ears. Her arms felt like they had shattered into several pieces after the blow she just absorbed. She stepped back to avoid a horizontal cut from Raphael, and she repositioned herself. He took a couple of steps to decrease the distance between them and pointed his sword upward. "Prepare to call a healer!" Priam heard him yell as he pulled the sword behind him. Priam knew that position, it was the Luna move, a deadly skill that strikes with more force to lower defense. He shot forward while bringing the sword in front of him, and Tia front-flipped over him, just in time. She was a little ticked that he would try something like that and, as if something snapped in her, she yelled, "I will prevail!" and sped up her attacks, striking more, but doing half the damage. She was using Astra. _Where did these kids learn these skills? She should not be able to know how to use Astra until she is a level 5 swordsmaster. _Raphael was dodging every attack that he possibly could, but that wasn't many. He was soon extremely tired and resorted to using one more attack: Sol. He lifted his sword high, jumped, and swung to find nothing but the ground. Tia had successfully avoided it and landed the final blow to Raphael's chest. Wincing in pain, he called 'yield' and she had passed. She was overjoyed and tried to assist Raphael to his feet. He grumbled and shoved her hand out of the way, getting to his feet himself.

After she had calmed down and finished drinking water, Priam spoke, "You have successfully defeated Raphael. Who do wish to fight next?"

She looked over the two left and pointed her finger at Aramis. Priam, if he were in this scenario, would have chosen Nathaniel because he was weaker than Aramis combat-wise, but she was choosing and he complied. After showing the two to the ring, he gave a wind tome to Aramis, reminding him that he could only use it. He groaned but agreed, flipping the pages in anticipation.

"...BEGIN!" Tia started running, knowing that Aramis had an advantage to her because he could attack long distance. His first strike hit her immediately, but did nothing. She felt no pain, and continued running. Alarmed at this, Aramis quickly switched his wimpy wind tome with a standard fire tome. Priam made to intervene and stop Aramis from fighting dishonorably, but Raphael put a hand on his shoulder and informed him, "Tia is extremely good at resisting magic. She'll be fine, old man."

He was right. Aramis shot fireball after fireball at her profusely, attempting to at least harm her. She didn't even wince as she drew closer. Backing away quickly, he switched tomes again, from Fire to Elthunder. Priam was starting to become angry at Aramis, but he let the match continue anyway. A cloud formed overhead and lightning rained down from the sky, each time hitting its target and each time, not even scratching her. She lifted the blade to swing for the first time, but he called 'yield', covering his head in a self-preservation stance. She had won without breaking a sweat.

But the real challenge was just starting. She must now face Nathaniel on his Griffon. On his own, his strength was less than a level 1 Priest. None but Clarisa knew how strong a fighter he was when on his mount, or how nimble he was. Priam was excited to see how this would play out.

He led them out on to the circle, the same as last time. He bellowed "BEGIN!" and the two had at it. Ashnard, Nathaniel's Griffon, roared and screeched terrifyingly, as if it were ready to claw her to pieces.

Nathaniel proved to be an excellent flyer on his mount, gaining much strength and agility. Priam estimated that he was equal to a level 6 Wyvern rider. The mount and rider fought ferociously, giving Tanuitia no time to think about tactics.

A blow to her shoulder made her wince in pain. She stopped to feel how bad it had hurt, but was wrong in doing so. Nathaniel smashed his training axe into her other side and she flopped to the ground. Nathaniel nearly landed his mount on her and she called 'yield'. She had lost.

Priam called for the two fighters to separate. Seeing that Tia had lost her will to fight on, he gave her a few encouraging words, "you are not done yet, are you? You can still fight. Remember, this is to become a myrmidon, for a real army, not some made-up fantasy that you have used your entire childhood. You are ready."

Tia doubted his words, "What makes you think that I am good enough? I'm never going to reach the same level as my cousin! I'm not as strong, or as brave, or as beautiful. I'm just a faker trying to be something I'm not..."

Priam didn't know what to say. Fortunately, he didn't have to. Say'ri appeared from out of no where in particular and placed a hand on Tia's shoulder. "Then be not Say'ri," she spoke, calm and encouraging, "for she has flaws that she wish she didn't. Be Tanuitia, a strong and skilled woman who would honor her family by following in her cousin's footsteps."

Tia turned to see Say'ri staring down at her, with a smile of comfort. Tia steeled herself and spoke in a strong tone. "You're right, I'm not done yet! I can still bring honor to my family and to Chon'sin. I just can't give up!" at that she stood and reentered the circle. Nathaniel gave Ashnard some water, then led him back into the circle as well.

Priam stood between the fighters for the second time. "BEGIN!" They rushed again to fight. As they drew close, Nathaniel made a side swing. Tia rolled underneath it and underneath the mount as well. She rose on the other side and hit both simultaneously. Nathaniel turned Ashnard around to his the opponent who was behind them, but she had yet again rolled under and hit them in the back a second time. Nathaniel was angry. He flew up a little to distance himself from Tia's merciless hits. He flew down, swinging his axe vertically to not allow the 'Flyer's Bane' move to work again. The axe made contact with her blade, and was parried out of his hands.

He scrambled to reclaim it, but met Tia's foot in the side of his face instead. He flew off his mount. She held him pinned to the ground with the sword at his throat and he called, 'yield'. She had passed her third test. She grinned with pride, she was now an official myrmidon for the Greil Defenders, the future, elite fighting division of Chon'sin.

* * *

**HEY!...how is everyone today, hmm? Good? Good. WARNING: Next chapter may contain more fluff that any previous chapter experienced yet, be prepared for the poorly written, emotional scenes.**

**That's enough spoilers for one day... No it's not. I HAD A MAJOR BREAKTHOUGH IN THIS STORY! It will involve Priam (duh), Grimleal, and a half-Risen.**

**Okay, THAT was enough spoilers for one day. Due to the length I'm going with for the first part of this story, I'm going to make a sequel after this one is completed depicting the life of Say'ri and Priam after the events in this book and the sister stories I'm writing. It will probably take place five years after these events.**

…**I thought that was enough spoilers... oh well... By the way, out of boredom, I wrote a one-shot FE:A and Minecraft crossover. If you have nothing better to do (which I'm sure you do, because it is just a waste of time) check it out. Please don't hesitate to leave a review telling me the good parts, the bad parts, and the parts that made you go "uh...". PM me anytime, I will talk to anyone except fish (until I get a written or spoken apology for the robbery).**

**Anyway, thanks again for staying with the story for so long.**

**~TheSearcherer**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Dinner in the Woods

To commemorate the special occasion of Tia becoming a myrmidon, Priam gave her a bronze sword with her name inscribed in the ancient language of Altean. She gave him a big hug and ran home to show to her parents, who would be more or less thrilled about their daughter becoming a soldier.

Priam chuckled lightly as he watched the energetic sword-bearer skip down the road. He looked up in the sky to see the sun setting, and realized he still had not gotten dinner for him and Say'ri. He rushed to the local market to inquire where he could find the best of Chon'sin delicacies that his small bag of gold could buy.

He ran into Z'eldryn while there, and he asked for his assistance. Z'eldryn informed him of a former samurai who now chopped fish into sushi for a living, telling him that he was the best choice for dinner in Chon'sin. He showed Priam the direction of the stall, bowed, and left down the road.

Rushing to the stall, he informed the retired samurai of his plight. The aged, white-bearded man smiled and whipped out a raw fish. He was definitely skilled with a sword (not as good as himself, he thought inwardly, but still pretty good). He gave Priam a tray of the chopped fish with seaweed wrapping the small cutlets. Priam gave a grateful nod, handed the old swordsmaster a bag of gold coins, and hurried to the open spot in the forest.

The dinner bell rang while Priam was running to the woods, and to his dismay, she was there first with what looked like a modest bottle of wine. It was an odd color, but he would ask her about it later.

But she was not the only one there. From a distance he could see light-green hair through the shrubbery and long, pointed ears on either side of the person's head.

"... you follow your head too much for your own good, Say'ri." said the Voice of Naga, Tiki. Neither of the women had noticed Priam walking toward them so he stepped into some thickets as to not disturb them. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he also didn't want to interrupt their conversation.

"I wish to follow mine heart, my lady."

"Then what is stopping you?"

"He is naturally kind. I cannot tell if what he does for me is out of duty, or out of the same emotion that plagues my heart."

"Then find out!" Tiki said, rather exasperated. "He is going to be here any second wanting to speak to you, just as much as you want to speak to him."

"My lady, I am not well equipped when dealing with the matters of the heart like you or lady Cordelia."

"Yes, but neither is he." Tiki said with a laugh. The statement made Priam blush, but he knew it was true.

"Aye, neither is he." she let out a nervous laugh.

"You two are very good together, and I believe it may end in a marriage." Tiki winked to Say'ri, who blushed in response.

_You have no idea, Tiki. _Priam thought, remembering Yen'fay's future and Raphael.

"I'm glad you have allowed me to be your friend, my lady."

"I'm just glad you view me as a friend now instead of your leader." they hugged and laughed. "Well, I had better return to the Mila Tree to ask Naga to grant your small regiment a safe journey. Enjoy the night with your hero." Say'ri blushed again and waved farewell. When Tiki was no longer visible, she looked around and muttered, "where IS he?"

"Where's who?" Priam asked, stepping out from behind the bush he was hiding in, making it looked like he had just arrived.

She smiled at his joke and returned it with a laugh, "A man promised me a wonderful dinner here to regain his honor, and he is late!"

Priam sat down next to Say'ri, setting the tray of sushi in his lap. "Did you beat him in a spar as well?" he offered her chopsticks. She took them and lifted a piece of sushi to her mouth.

"Nay," she continued the joke, "but it matters not. You arrived first, so you have regained your honor."

"Even if I was a tad late?"

"'Tis better to be late than never, Priam."

He laughed, putting an arm around Say'ri, bringing her closer to him. He let his good friend, Instinct, dictate what to do while he simply spoke. "What did you bring to drink? Wine?"

"The finest wine in all of the Valmese Dynasts. It is called, 'sake', or 'rice wine'. It is made from fermented rice from Chon'sin." She spoke in a prideful tone, showing him the old wine bottle. Without thinking, she poured him a glass and held it in front of his face. He took it gratefully, and drank it slowly.

"Pray tell me, sir, why you were so late." she said, taking her own glass and sipping.

He shrugged, "You can thank your overzealous cousin for that. But she shall be a fine myrmidon, like her lovely cousin." Say'ri blushed lightly at those words and avoided his gaze by occupying her time with eating. He continued, "I had a bronze sword engraved with her name in Altean. I made it special to her so she would not forget it. This was a very important day for her."

"Aye, that it was. I remember well when I first started to learn the art of Chon'sin fencing. It is my most cherished memory."

They continued to eat and drink, in much the same silence as the night they kissed. But this time was different. Priam couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that deep down, something was just... different. He didn't feel uncomfortable, and neither did she. And neither of them broke the silence between them. Priam soon remembered Cordelia's advice; ___a relationship is not built on silence, but of honesty._Finishing his dinner, he shifted slightly to get into a comfortable position and spoke, "Say'ri... I'm not a man who expresses his emotions a lot, or even pretends to understand them, but I think..." Priam lost his train of thought as she turned her head to face his. Her eyes made him lose mental consciousness for half of a second.

Seeing him so dumbfounded, she tried helping him, "...You think...?" He still thought of her beauty, outward and inward. She was a woman of beauty beyond compare. He never cared about such things before... before her.

Seeing that he was still not snapped out of his thoughts, she lightly tapped him on the shoulder to regain his attention, "...You think...?" she repeated.

He smiled warmly and braced for what he had to say next, "...I think...that I... I..." Some barrier inside of him kept him from finishing his sentence. He thought himself unworthy of the affection of the Princess (soon-to-be Queen) of Chon'sin. The barrier constantly reminded him of this fact, but he busted down the barrier before he would implode on hidden feelings, "I think that I love you."

Say'ri held a shocked expression, trying to hold in her own feelings. He paused briefly to see her reaction. She didn't move and he continued, "I am not for sure, but I have never felt this way for any woman in my entire life." They made no movement for what seemed like an eternity to Priam.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if it were love or not, but what he had said sent a fire through her body. She smiled with the warmth that engulfed her body, "Then we shall see if it really IS love that curses our hearts."

He felt pressure on the back of his head from her hand as it was forced to lock with her lips. He was relieved by her answer because it meant he might have a chance.

They parted after half of a minute. Priam looked shocked, "Whoa, you've done this before, haven't you."

She blushed and backed away from him slightly, "I was just about to say the same of you! But I assure you, no other man has had this opportunity before."

"Same here." But then he thought about what she had truly said, and saying that he was the same... "No, wait! Not the same." but everything he said came out wrong, "I mean, no woman has ever-" she put a hand over his mouth and a hand over her own to stifle a giggle.

"You are easily confused for a man of your stature." She said with a smile.

After a couple of minutes, they returned to the positions they were sitting in, and talked about the journey they would soon make.

"Robin and Cordelia have planned to leave ahead of us off of the boat." Say'ri said, laying her head on his shoulder, "They shall announce our arrival to Ylisstol."

"Good, I was afraid we would have to travel with those love-birds the entire trip." Priam said lightheartedly.

She looked up at him, with a smile on her face, "Is it so wrong to be 'love-birds'?" She wrapped her left arm around his back and brought him closer.

"Heh, I guess not completely." He looked out on the waterscape, watching as the moon set over the pond in front of them. The reflected sunbeams of the moon rained down mercilessly on the lake, making it shimmer and sparkle. "I mean, if it weren't for them, I would never have thought of this."

"You went to Robin and Cordelia as well?" Say'ri asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah I... wait, I thought you just talked to Cordelia?"

"We spoke again at the cherry trees lining the creek south of here. Robin was the one who assisted me with tips on beating you. He is really good at his trade." She winked at him. He simply grimaced

_Note to self: _Priam thought, _kill Robin._

The sun was no longer leaving even the slightest light across the horizon and the pair got up and stretched. Priam pulled out the torch he brought along to see the way back. He lit it and took her by the hand, leading her out of the forest. Once clearing the thicket, they said goodnight to each other, and headed to their respected tents to get rest for their long voyage in the morning.

___She really is all those things that I thought and more. What a woman... _He reclined on his bedroll, with his head resting in his hands. The temperature was perfect for sleep, his bedroll was inviting, but he could not find rest. He simply stayed up, thinking of her.

* * *

**HEY!...This was my second attempt at fluff... I feel like a porcupine when writing this stuff, wanting my life to be fluffy, but finding that life is prickly instead :(**

**On a different, less depressing note, I've decided that Priam and Say'ri won't be the only new couple in this story. One or two of my OCs will also find love...maybe.**

**Also, I have a poll set up on my account to see which Fanfic I should publish next: (Walhart x Emmeryn or Anna x Gaius.) Fan art for either is also appreciated, as both lack a cover photo. Both will tie in slightly with this story (annaxgaius more than walhartxemmeryn). But seriously, would you rather read a story about Anna or Walhart? I am curious. I have two chapters typed for both, so they might just publish at the same time, but the pool will decide which gets more attention.**

**Leave a review about what you thought was good, what was bad, and what made you go "wow, you're an idiot..." honest reviews are always appreciated and no one is EVER flagged for what they say on this story. Favorites and follows are also happily received!**

**Once again, thank you for your time.**

**~TheSearcherer**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

To Ylisstol

"...Ugh, where's the mainland?" Aramis said impatiently, leaning against the side of the ship. They had been sailing for what seemed like weeks to them. None but Nathaniel, Clarisa, and Raphael had journeyed out of the dynast before. They were all thrilled to see a new and inviting landscape, but the wait to get there was unbearable for them. Unsurprisingly, Aramis cracked first. He whipped out his Arcwind tome and took aim at the ship's sail. "I'll just speed things along."

Raphael saw what Aramis was planning and immediately ran and pushed him down, "You moron!" Raphael scolded him, "You'll rip the sail! Sails like these aren't meant to withstand standard wind tomes, let alone Arcwind! We'd be going even slower without a sail!"

Aramis rubbed his head in pain. He had fallen on his face and he was a tiny bit angry at Raphael for roughly pushing him aside, "I'M the MORON?! You just shoved over the most important member of this team!" Aramis rose to his feet and pointed his finger, "If I had so much as broken something-"

"-I'm a little surprised you didn't, weakling." Raphael retorted with a smirk.

"WEAKLING?!" Aramis pulled out his Elthunder tome, "I'll not stand for such insults! Draw your blade, Raphael."

"I'd be glad to oblige you in a duel," he pulled out a steel sword, "just don't bleed all over the boat." The other Defenders stood and watched. Jack had nearly forgotten about the apple he was munching on when he saw Raph push down Aramis, but he had seen enough. Jack threw his apple behind him and stepped between them, holding both back with his unusually strong arms.

"Stop it, you two!" Jack commanded.

"Butt out, pony boy." Raphael said coldly.

"Yeah, why does it matter to you?" Helen asked. She was extremely bored since boarding this vessel and a good tussle was just what she wanted to watch.

"It matters to me because I don't want the boat to sink!" He pointed at the tome in Aramis's hand, "What if a stray thunderbolt hit the mast? We would have to row the rest of the way, and it is still a long haul."

"I...uhh..." Aramis stuttered, sheepishly.

Jack turned to Raphael, whom he had guessed would be the more responsible of the two, "What if Captain Priam found out about this little skirmish, hmm? We would be doing team exercises for the rest of the trip!"

"Huh..." Raphael stepped back, _my old man might not be too proud of me for hurting a comrade over something that didn't matter. And he definitely WOULD make us do those exercises..._

"You're right, Jack," he set a hand on his shoulder, "this is not worth ruining the time we have here."

"What's going on? I heard yelling."

The Defenders turned to see their fearless leader, Priam, standing at the steps to the bottom of the ship. Raphael scratched his head nervously, _He'll want an explanation... _he slowly moved toward his father, but Jack stepped in front of him

"Just a minor argument, Captain." Jack said with a salute. "We're all a little weary from the long voyage."

"It doesn't look like it was 'minor' to me," seeing the sword and tome that both young men held in their hands, "but it appears that you managed to settle your dispute without violence." He spoke up to address everyone, "Be patient, everyone. Plegia is not that far off. We'll most likely have a few Risen battles to face to get to Ylisse, but we'll come through with flying colors...diiiisMISSED" Priam saluted and walked back down below.

After Priam was out of sight, everyone let out a breath they were apparently holding in. All but Helen were relieved, "Aww, I was totally going to take bets for that fight..."

"We need to do something to calm us all down," Nathaniel said uneasily, "recently, even I'VE been on edge..."

"Trust me," Jack was stretching slightly, "we all know how you feel. Maybe we can find a way to get to the other boat." He pointed to the slightly smaller frigate used for transporting goods and livestock; specifically, the mounts.

"That is a wonderful idea!" Said Clarisa, "I would love to go for a flight on my pegasus, with the wind in my hair, and the ocean below..." her eyes glazed over as she continued to daydream. Her little brother shook his head at the sight, but he continued her thought. "She has a point. If someone wanted to, I could let them fly with me for a while so Ashnard can stretch his wings."

"Flying on a griffon would be the most greatestest thing ever!" Tia spoke excitedly.

"Then it's agreed," Jack stood straight, "We are going to find someone who can take us to the mounts' boat."

They all nodded and walked toward the stairs to the galley, all but Aramis, as Raphael noted. Raphael turned around to see Aramis still standing there. "Are you coming?"

"In a minute, but, I want to apologize." Aramis? Apologize? These words never went together, "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. 'Mages should keep sound minds to make the magic sound' or that's what Z'eldryn used to tell me."

"Bah," Raphael warded off his apology, "It was just as much my fault. I should have been calmer about the situation." He extended his hand, "Let's just forget it."

They shook hands and ran to find the rest of their comrades.

* * *

Finding someone to ferry them across to the other boat was a snap. The crew from the other ship was constantly traversing between the two and told them that the next boat could take them over.

Nathaniel and Jack were good friends, so they rode Ashnard first with Helen next in line. Clarisa offered to let Raphael ride with her. Raphael refused at first, "Uh, n-no thanks! Why don't you let Aramis go?" The Defenders still on the boat were slightly confused.

"This is a little embarrassing but..." Aramis put his hand behind his head, "I'm afraid of heights..."

"...Damn," Raphael cursed under his breath.

"Why don't you want to ride with me?" Clarisa queried, "I know it's not a griffon like Nate's, but it has just as much strength and agility!"

_If only she knew, _he thought, _if only she knew how much of a coward I am around her and... how much I love her..._

"You ain't afraid of heights either, are ya?" Helen questioned with a smirk, jabbing Aramis in the ribs. Aramis groaned.

"N-no, I'll join you, Clarisa." Raphael said, uneasily.

"Great!" She put both of her hands together and held them at her chest, "It's going to be so much fun, I promise, Raph!"

"Great..." Raphael repeated. She mounted the pegasus and held her hand out to lift Raphael up. After both were securely on the pegasus, they shot to the sky.

The air was, indeed, refreshing and probably what everyone needed a little of. Gliding across the ocean landscape gave them that sense of freedom that they seemed to lack in the confines of the boat, yet Raphael didn't feel free. He felt the exact opposite on the pegasus's back. "Doesn't this air feel liberating?" Clarisa asked to her passenger. He was silent. He knew if he said anything, it would most likely be full of stutters and 'um's.

She took note of his silence and turned to see if he even had acknowledged the question. "...Raph?"

He knew he couldn't remain silent to the pegasus knight forever, "...yeah...liberating..."

She smiled at him, "Huh, for a mercenary, you sure are melancholy!"

"Not melancholy… just…deep thinking…"

"Deep, huh? Well at least I know ONE thing about you. To be honest, no one in all of Chon'sin's army knows anything about you. Nothing! You are a huge mystery to the entire group."

Why was she saying these things? Was she implying that she didn't trust him?

"I mean, for all we know, you could be a Plegian spy!" _Yep, no trust. _She continued, "But Sir Priam trusts you, so we all should, really."

"So do I have your trust?" Raphael asked, ignoring the illness he felt in his stomach from being so close to her.

"Maybe if you opened up more, sure. I mean, I don't even know where you're from."

"Well," it was hard for him to describe where he was from (the future is a hard thing to explain), but he came up with something that could work, "A long time ago," (That was a true statement), "I was born to two Chon'sin residents. They disappeared and I was raised by my uncle. When Risen struck my home town, he took us to shelter in Ylisstol. When I was old enough to lift a sword, he returned to the remains of our home town and was never heard from again."

"Wow," She replied with a face of interest, "where did you live in Chon'sin?"

"I was too young to remember the name." Raphael replied. Memories of the horrid time he lived in flooded his thoughts. They brought him constant nightmares and plagued him even in the day. He shook his head to clear his thoughts in the presence of Clarisa. "But enough about me, I don't know anything about you, either."

She slid one hand off of the reigns to scratch at her face, "Well for starters... I-" She stopped mid-sentence. Movement on the main boat caught her attention. Her eyesight was keen compared to his. He squinted his eyes, trying to figure out who the person was she had been staring at. To his astonishment, it was his father, Priam.

"Why are you staring at Priam?"

"Don't say it so loudly!" she said while covering his mouth. He nearly fell off of the pegasus due to the force. "Can you keep a secret, Raph?" He simply nodded in reply, "...Well, I… kinda… have a crush on our commander." This was a slap to his face. A girl that he felt strongly for had fallen for his father. Time travel is a cruel and ironic concept.

"He's such a brave man! Have you heard the tales of his strength? About the army he commanded in The Garden of Giants? How he fought in the Fell-Dragon War?"

"Yeah, I know all of those things." He responded dryly

"...not to mention, he's easy on the eyes..." she was lost in another daydream. He couldn't believe it. He didn't know how to feel about it. He knew she didn't have a chance with him because Priam was nearly ten years older than her.

"Clarisa... I want to-" But then he saw it, it was foggy, but he saw it; land.

"Raph?" Clarisa was wondering why he had stopped.

"Clarisa! Look ahead!" he pointed forward and she turned to see what he had seen. She gave a squeal of joy.

"Land! Plegia... but still, land!" She steered her pegasus back to the mount's boat to inform the others.

* * *

The news spread like wildfire. The moral of the crew and army skyrocketed, and the entire fleet celebrated that night. They were still a couple days away thanks to the unfavoring wind, but they were excited, nonetheless. Jack and a couple members of the ship's crew volunteered to make a small feast to commemorate the arrival. Jack was an aspiring chef with a dream of opening the finest restaurant in all of Valm, maybe the world. His cooking was nothing but extraordinary. He truly was an excellent cook with anything he was given.

They all sat down in the ship's galley to eat. Raphael was talking to Priam and Nathaniel about supplies when he heard his name called. "Raphael!" He turned to see Clarisa with a half-smile on her face.

"Yeah? What."

"We need to find a time and place to talk. I still feel like I don't know enough. You choose the time, anytime." She waved at the people sitting next to him and left to rejoin Helen and Tia. He was beet red.

Priam chuckled, "What was that all about, Raph?"

"Yeah, my sister wouldn't stop talking about how you acted on your flight with her today." Nathaniel piped in.

"It doesn't matter." He said in an undertone. Nathaniel and Priam looked at each other, shrugged, and continued eating.

After the feasting had ended, Priam stood and addressed the group, "Tomorrow, we begin our march through Plegian territory. They are without a ruler and they have no honor, summoning Risen when needed. This will be our first mission."

"Priam is correct." Robin stood from his seat next to Cordelia. "This will test the strength of Greil's Defenders. Walking through Plegian sand will be no easy task for ground-based soldiers with the exception of mages," Aramis let out a 'woohoo!' before being glared at by Priam. Robin continued, "Lady Cordelia and I shall scout the landscape one day ahead of you all. If we spot anything out of the ordinary, we shall fly back as fast as possible."

"Forgive me, milord," Helen spoke up, trying to sound like a noble like her parents had told her to, "but why must we arrive in Plegia? Surely we can travel through Regna Ferox safely."

Priam spoke in Robin's stead, "Ylisse is desperate for assistance. Their army is spread thin this very moment because they still have had no time to reinforce since the Fell-Dragon War. That is why we take the quickest route, be it a little dangerous."

"But why not sail around Plegia?" Tanuitia asked, "We wouldn't have to face Plegia and we would get there faster."

The captain of the vessel now spoke to answer her question, "That path through the sea is forbidden unless you are traveling to the Outrealms. If you sail within that vicinity, you go to an Outrealm, whether you wanted to or not."

"I advise all of you to get to sleep early tonight; we have a long day ahead of us." Priam said.

"And with that, Cordelia and I make our leave for the mainland on her pegasus. Farewell." Robin waved his hand and rose from his seat to prepare for their journey. He did the gentlemanly thing and held his hand out for Cordelia. The two walked hand-in-hand up to the deck. Raphael heard Clarisa sigh again.

"Again," Priam reminded, "Get to bed early. Sleep well, everyone." he glanced across the room to make sure everyone was paying attention, when he noticed that Clarisa was blushing again. _Why? Hmm... I must intimidate her... Oh well, I don't go easy on anyone._

He saluted, which was returned with salutes from his troops, and then he went topside to get some training in before bed.

Clarisa sighed after Priam had left. She had a faint smirk on her lips and glazed-over eyes. She was obviously daydreaming about Priam again. Raphael had seen all of these things and he wondered if he had the strength and charisma to knock his own father out of her heart, it would be the hardest challenge he had ever faced. He sighed as well, but his was more audible, and Nathaniel had heard it.

"What's wrong, Raph?" He asked with a hint of worry.

Realizing his blunder of making his sigh loud enough for others to hear, he tried to change the subject, "Oh-er-nothing... How is Ashnard?"

"Oh... Fine, thanks for asking. Jack and I saw some crazy stuff while we were up there, riding, but we..." Raphael was no longer listening to him. He continued to talk, but it fell on deaf ears as Raphael's attention had changed to the new and troublesome land he would venture to the next day. The land is where Grima was resurrected and caused the horrible future he lived in for most of his life. He began to remember the Risen destroying towns, the friends he lost, the constant fire from charred houses, the empty landscapes, His friends who traveled to the past, and the castle. _I wonder what the castle looks like knowing that Grima didn't touch this one._

"Hey Raph!"

"muh?"

"Sorry Raph," Nathaniel said narrowing his eyes at the mercenary, "but it looks like you need sleep a.s.a.p. before you pass out on this table. Your eyes were glazed over and everything."

"You're right," Raphael said, slowly getting up, "I just need a little shut-eye. Goodnight, Nate…"

"Sleep well, Raph."

They both headed to the hammocks they had been assigned for the voyage. Raphael didn't fall asleep immediately, he was thinking of meeting his old friends in Ylisstol: Owain, Aaron, Gerome, Lucina… He was really too excited to sleep that night.

* * *

**HEY!... Before you start shouting, "WHO THE F*** IS AARON?!" He is the son of one of the PPs in one of my next stories. So there. And on a side note, I do not know why most of my chapters include insomnia… Maybe it's just my psyche…**

**Originally, this chapter had love-lives being pried into like my brother looking for Oreos. My Beta-reader pal, Viral020 (Whose story rocks, so you should all check it out), suggested that I don't do this for obvious reasons. He's also given me several ideas for chapters later down the road.**

**Good news! Fish are off the hook for the murder of the late Rev. William James. As it turns out, it was some dolphins… And you can't really hate dolphins unless they are a football team :P. But in my defense, the fin-prints were confusing…**

**My poll on which PPP I should do next will be closed on Tuesday, so vote if you haven't. As of today, The Anna x Gaius story is ahead by one vote (And any fan-art would be appreciated for both stories as cover photos. I promise that you will get credited for it in the story description). Feel free to leave a review on what you liked or disliked in this chapter or the entire story. PM me anytime, I check Fanfiction via mobile, so I can check PMs frequently.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Oreos, which makes me sad. Can you imagine owning your own Oreo plant and just living off of Oreos the rest of your life?! THAT, sir, is the American Dream… Oh, and I don't own Fire Emblem…**

**~TheSearcherer**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

The Plegian Heat

Somewhere in the Plegian sands, spies were relaying stolen information to their superiors,

"Sir, it is just as you predicted, the Ylissean tactician they call 'Robin' has recruited reinforcements from their allies in Chon'sin."

Another spy spoke up, "They plan on traveling right through Plegia to reach Ylisstol. We could strike them before they reach Ylisstol and make sure they never make it."

The large man on the throne put up a hand, "They expect us to assault them in our territory, imbecile! I have a better idea." He rose from his sitting position, "Priam's forces must not make it to Ylisstol. We shall confront them at the border, and attempt to convert the man into the world's strongest Risen. He will comply, or he will suffer dearly." something deep in his dark soul convinced him it was comical, he started to laugh in a diabolical and unearthly tone, "Buahaha... HAHA...BWAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

"Did everyone grab their supplies from off of the boat?" Say'ri asked Priam.

"I pray so; otherwise they shall never see it again."

Priam turned to his troops who were taking in the sights of the desert before them, "It's like a beach without water!" He heard Tia say, he had to refrain from smacking himself in the forehead at her obvious statement.

"Everyone, listen up." Priam barked out, the squad turned their attention to him "Clarisa and Nathaniel will act as transports for Tanuitia and Helen. Sorry, Jack and Raphael, you will have to walk."

Jack groaned, "I actually have to ride my horse, so it's worse for me..."

"Do you want me to carry you and your horse?" Raphael asked in an annoyed, sarcastic tone.

"If it's not too much trouble." Jack replied with a grin.

A loud eagle-like screech reminded them of Ashnard's presence, "Come on, guys!" Nathaniel said to the two on the ground, "The heat is starting to get to Ashnard, so let's get going!"

Helen climbed aboard the large griffon and Tia mounted the pegasus behind Clarisa. The two flyers bolted to the sky, only hearing what Priam shouted at the last second, "Don't fly too far ahead!"

Aramis whipped out his wind tome and cast a spell on his feet, making him hover slightly above the Plegian sand. "Let's see who can get to Ylisstol first!" he started to run and was unhindered by the sand. Jack groaned again realizing he would be the slowest.

Raphael put a hand on Jack, "Don't worry, Jack, we'll stay with you. No one is going to be left behind."

"Thanks pal!"

The four followed the two flyers and the mage at a very slow pace, slowing constantly to help Jack's mighty steed from the sand it constantly tripped in. Priam and Say'ri took up the rear while Jack and Raphael led the small, ground troop. The two young men had not spoken often since their first meeting (Raph hadn't spoken to almost ANY of them anyway) but they talked today like old comrades, discussing training regimes, tactics, and fencing styles. A question that Jack had been meaning to ask Raphael for a long time finally surfaced in his mind and he asked him with slight hesitation, "Just out of curiosity... why are you even in this army? Surely your mercenary skills could be put to a better use?"

Raphael was silent. A minute passed and Jack heard no reply. Raphael was clearly lost in thought, "…Raphael?"

Raphael looked up to the cavalier. He thought for a second to get an answer that wasn't a complete lie, "I was hoping to travel the world in search of my parents. I was hoping to find them in Chon'sin…"

"Did you find them?"

"…No." This was also not a complete lie. His parents were dead; he would never find them again, no matter how hard he looked.

"Well, maybe we'll find them on the road!" Jack said optimistically, "What do they look like?"

"…Jack, if it's all the same to you, let's drop the subject."

"Sorry, Raph. I didn't mean to-" But Raphael covered his mouth. Raphael eyed the dunes behind them carefully, seeing shadows that should not have been there.

"Something is following us…" Raphael said in a whisper.

Then he saw it, a Risen stood up shakily and notched an arrow on his bow. Before Raphael could say anything, the Risen let fly the missile, aimed at Priam. That alone was a mistake the Risen would not make twice.

"Yah!" Priam side-stepped to avoid the arrow. As the arrow whizzed past, he grabbed it in mid-air and spun around quickly, throwing it back at the Risen.

The Risen screeched and made unearthly sounds before dissipating into a puff of smoke. More Risen appeared, some rising directly out of the ground.

"Revenants…" Priam said under his voice, "Jack! The path hardens farther down, try to flag down the rest of our team and get them back here to handle these things. For now, Say'ri, Raphael and I can handle them."

Raphael and Say'ri drew steel and stood shoulder to shoulder next to Priam.

"Yessir!" Jack responded as he spurred his horse down the road to find the rest of the team.

After Jack had left, more Risen appeared from the ground. They looked like Revenants, but were a gold color. "Entombed!" Priam shouted in excitement, "These Grimleal are not too smart if they give us opportunity to grow!" Say'ri nodded in response, but Raphael was slightly confused, _how could my old man be happy to see those things? They're hideous! _But as they fought, he realized that some moves he had been learning could get some practice on this odd Risen. The experience proved to be fruitful.

More Risen appeared by the Entombed. The Entombed seemed to be focused on attacking Priam and Raphael while the regular Risen assaulted Say'ri.

"Why are the Entombed just attacking us?" Raphael asked Priam while chopping the sack off of an Entombed.

"It is rather curious…" Priam replied, piercing a solder Risen through the stomach.

They tried constantly to assist Say'ri, but every time they tried to switch places with her, they moved in the same manner.

A screech of a wyvern was heard over the din of battle. Priam turned to the skies to see a small pack of Risen on flying mounts approaching. _We need backup. FAST!_

"EVERYONE DUCK!" Nathaniel shouted. He did not wait for a response as he flew Ashnard just off of the ground, bringing his axe through any Risen it met. Helen jumped from her ride and landed square on a wyvern rider. She used the brute force of her fist to knock the Risen from its mount and quickly brought the wyvern to a crash landing.

Clarisa followed suit of her younger brother and brought her lance through several Risen, making a plume of purple smoke from where they once stood.

Tia tried to dismount in the same manner as Helen, but she missed the mount she was aiming for and fell to the ground. She tumbled when she hit, and somehow, landed on her feet. Seeing that she was okay, she charged ahead and swung her sword with the fury of ten men (too bad she didn't have her eyes open.)

The fight was getting harder and harder and it almost looked like they were going to have to retreat.

"Raph!" Priam called to him, "Get everyone out of here! They can't take much more!"

"Find someone else to do that, I'll fight with you!"

"This isn't a request, this is an ORDER!"

"But-!" In a puff of smoke, all of the Risen disappeared. Nothing remained of the attack except for the Defenders.

Tia was still swinging wildly with her eyes shut. "How many more are left!"

"Tanuitia! Stop! You could harm a comrade!" Say'ri called out to her young cousin.

Tia opened her eyes to the empty desert. She resheathed her sword and stood with pride, "That, friends, is how you deal with Risen!"

"But Priam," Nathaniel started, "Why would they-"

"I'm here. Where's the battle!" Aramis was riding on the back of Jack's horse. His ankle was wrapped.

"It's over, troglodyte!" Helen said with disgust, "If you hadn't decided to run ahead, you could have helped us."

"AND" Jack was a little annoyed, "if you hadn't turned your ankle on that sand dune, you wouldn't be slowing down my horse. We could have been here in no time."

"Fortunately, our supplies haven't been touched." Clarisa said, looking over the inventory carried by the mounts.

It was rather odd to think about. Why would the Grimleal bring a whole force against them to fight then retreat when they were starting to win? This can't be good.

Robin and Cordelia were out of reach by this point; they would not be able to assist them if they needed it.

"That could have been a weakening strike, sir." Jack suggested, "They will most likely throw all they have at us on the border."

"We have no other option at the moment." Priam said with a sigh, "We're in their lands, we play by their rules. Defenders, we move onward!"

Aramis was forced to ride Jack's horse the rest of the way because of his bad ankle. When Aramis tried telling of how he fought a small force of risen by himself causing him to turn his ankle, Raphael laughed hysterically, as did Priam and some of the others.

Jack, as well as his mount, hated being a transport for an injured Aramis. He complained about the smallest bumps and turns, making Jack even more annoyed with him.

They rode through the night. They were allowed no rest because the Grimleal would give them none, sending small bands of Risen to catch them off guard.

By the dawn of the second day, they could see the border.

"Be prepared, everyone. Priam reminded, "Their assault will most likely commence at any-"

"Halt!"

They looked to the man dressed in Plegian, dark mage robes.

"I'm here for the one they call, 'The descendant of Ike'." As he spoke, several puddles formed in front of him, almost nine thousand.

"And what do you want of me?" Priam demanded. The man gave a dark chuckle.

"I was not referring to you. While you are a descendent, you are not the one I seek." He pointed to Raphael.

"He is."

* * *

**CLIFF HANGER!... does this sound insane? Maybe just a little…**

**I'll talk about this story in just a couple seconds, but first, let's talk sister fics. My story, 'Desperado' is up and published and already has two chapters while 'The Means of Peace' has been put on halt until further notice.**

**Now about this story. WE REACHED A CLIMAX! I'm so happy :,) I actually haven't written the next chapter, but I have written the chapter after that. Lucina enters the picture and things will start to mysteriously disappear around the camp, revealing another OC, Aaron (You might have already met him).**

**Life has been hectic recently, so if I don't post another chapter for a month, please be patient and remember that I promised to finish this story.**

**Please leave a review about the chapter or about random things if you want. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS appreciated. PM me anytime. I love to talk to people in an unbiased manner and never judge anyone, so if you're bored, hit me up.**

**You already know how thankful I am that you opened this story, but for the sake of repetition, Thanks!**

**~TheSearcherer**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Out of Control

"…ME?! What the hell do you want me for?"

"It is quite simple, really." The sorcerer spoke with a smile that could make anyone uneasy, "You have power, and we need power. Oh, but please pardon me. Introductions have not been made." He bowed respectively to the small force and continued, "I am called, Perelous. I am Sorcerer Supreme of the Grimleal."

"I thought that Validar was the head of the Grimleal." Priam inquired. The only ones paying any attention to the matter at hand were Priam and Raphael. Everyone else looked at Raph in awe and wonder. Could he have been Priam's relative? How were they related? How did this man know of Raphael's lineage? No one knew the answers to these questions.

"Validar was only Grima's herald, meant to restore our master to his former glory! I manage all of the Grimleal in teachings, finances, and well… EVERYTHING."

"So you're like the mother of the Grimleal?" Raphael said with a smirk, "That's cute. Do you get a little apron with a 'best mom' label on it?"

Perelous smiled, "I'm more of an unforgiving father…" he said with a chuckle. "But I know not everyone's names. I have been gracious with you for invading my land, and this is how you repay me?"

"Apologies, sir." Priam said. He examined the situation his squad was in; a very powerful sorcerer with several foul-looking puddles at his feet, over nine thousand total, probably Revenants. "My name is Priam. I lead this small force, known as 'Greil's Defenders', against any Risen attack or any Grimleal."

"Ah! I know you!" The sorcerer narrowed his eyes on the hero prepared for combat, "You are the one who killed my son on the ocean that one night." He smiled darkly.

"You mean the commander who tried to kill us as we were returning home?" Priam asked. He readied a tomahawk, just like that night.

"The very same." The sorcerer pulled out a purple book with three triangles on it. The three triangles formed what looked like the Triforce of legend, but it was upside down. Priam leaned to Say'ri. He whispered to her, saying, "That man has Goetia. That is the most powerful dark tome of all time. Be ready." She nodded in response and put a hand on her katana.

"So this is your force, Sir Priam?" Perelous asked.

"Yes. Does it matter? Will you let us pass?"

"Alas, no. Who else will avenge my son's death other than me?" he chuckled, "No. It must be me who brings your dead body back to be burned for eternity." At those words, the Revenants rose from their puddles in a slow, disgusting way. All readied their weapons for combat. They stood apart, waiting for the other side to make a move.

"Revenants, you beckon to my call. Now obey your master and destroy the opposition before you!" At Perelous' words, the Revenants charged at a slow trot. Revenants are extremely powerful, if they're able to hit you. Because of their slow speeds, they are only good in large numbers, which they had.

"Remember, my servants!" Perelous called to them, "Leave the one they call 'Raphael' alive. He is of dire importance!"

Raphael grunted and spoke sarcastically, "Well, don't I feel special." _What do they want with me? It makes no sense!_

The battle was fierce. Anytime a Revenant succeeded in injuring a comrade, a couple of them had to protect them until the effects of the vulnerary began. Over the din of battle, Jack could hear Aramis counting how many Revenants he had taken out, "seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…" Jack knew how many he had killed already and he thought it would be fun to have a healthy competition with his comrade. He started to count aloud as well, "twenty-two… twenty-three…" The battle had gone on for so long that they were constantly asking the other how many they had.

Helen was defending Tia with all of the strength she had, even though Tia didn't really need it. She was fast for her age, faster than most of the other unmounted troops there. She found no difficulty in evading Revenant after Revenant. Tia even found new strength in the battle, increasing in speed, strength, and defensive maneuvers. She had gained in experience to a level 2 Myrmidon.

Clarisa and Nathaniel were the ones most hit, surprisingly. They could not strike the Revenants because every time they got close, the Revenant would duck down and attack them from behind.

Priam was unable to see what was going on around him. He only had two goals: protect Raphael and Say'ri from harm, and remove this 'Sorcerer Supreme' from power. The battle between he and Perelous was brutal to say the least. Anytime either of them prepared to strike, the other would counter-strike, sending both flying in opposite directions. Priam fought the sorcerer's long distance spells using tomahawks. When he ran out of that, he used Ragnell as a throwing sword.

Perelous lost ground, hit after hit from a determined Priam. He made an angry face, threw down his tome and began to utter something under his breath that Priam couldn't make out because of the distance. _I wonder what has gotten into him… I wonder if this is sup- _"ARRGH! GODS!" Priam fell to his knees, clutching his chest. His breathing was becoming raspy, if he were lucky enough to get a breath in. He felt his strength being sapped from him with the air in his lungs.

"Finally!" Perelous wiped the blood and sweat from his brow. "I have finally hit you with a hex!" Perelous laughed with relief. He then pulled out a dagger from a hilt he wore around his leg and approached him. Priam tried to get up, but every time he moved, the pain in his chest worsened. "You, Priam, are a hard man to hit with a hex. I tried what must be a total of…hmm," he put a hand on Priam's shoulder, "twenty hexes? Doesn't matter now, but please look to my face instead of the ground."

Priam had no strength to lift his head, let alone the strength to force the sorcerer away. Perelous lifted Priam's head for him and continued, "Don't you think it would be ungrateful to not be able to see the man who was strong enough to bring you down?"

"Not 'strong enough'…" Priam spoke through the pain, "'cowardly' is… a better…word"

Perelous brought the dagger to Priam's neck, using his other hand to hold Priam's head up by his hair, "See you in hell, servant of Naga!"

"BEGONE!" a swift sound passed by Priam's ear. He closed his eyes as he saw a silver object meet Perelous' flesh. He heard a shout of pain and the feeling of blood hitting his face. As he opened his eyes, he witnessed the Sorcerer Supreme clutching his shoulder. As his vision became clear, he saw that Perelous no longer had the arm that was holding the dagger, because it lay two body-lengths away.

"You will pay for this! You will pay for interfering with the master's plans!" Perelous was starting to lose a lot of blood. He stumbled back and fell to the ground. He started to shake his one good fist at the group before a triangle of light formed around him and he disappeared.

"…AH!" The tightness Priam felt around his chest left and he stood to regain his strength. He looked to his side to see who had saved him from Perelous. To his surprise, it was Say'ri.

"He got away!" Say'ri said angrily.

"Rescue staff, I'd bet my life on it" Priam said, trying to figure it out himself.

The sound of screeching rang through the sand dunes. The Revenants had no one controlling them, meaning that they would be a threat to Plegians as well as Ylisseans.

"This just went from bad to worse in a heartbeat." Priam said.

"We don't have the strength to face them all, Priam. We must retreat!" Say'ri was being wise, but Priam would have none of it.

"If our force falls to Revenants, then it means we were undeserving to be a regiment in the first place. We'll fight on!"

"Sir!" Nathaniel pointed to the sky, "look to the sky!"

Above Ylissean air-space, several white dots covered the horizon. They grew with each passing second until Priam recognized what they were.

"Is that what I think it is?" Jack asked.

"If you think it is the Ylissean Pegasus Knights, then you are correct." Priam said with a smile of relief.

They came in fast. They gave the signal for Priam's forces to clear out and they launched javelin after javelin at the defenseless Revenants.

"We can handle it from here, Priam."

Priam turned around to see Cordelia on her Pegasus.

"Cordelia? Are you back to work already?"

"Chrom had been afraid that you would meet opposition along the border, or that you would be chased across it. We arrived to stop any form of an advancement into Ylisse. We are her first defense, after all."

"Can you watch our backs as we travel to Ylisstol?" Say'ri asked.

"That was the plan." Cordelia said with a wink.

"Then we must flee, sir Priam!"

"Right. Defenders! Return to marching positions! We are to arrive in Ylisstol by noon today!"

The Defenders slowly regrouped and checked the supplies to see if there was any damage to anything that they had. Seeing no defects, they left the remaining Revenants to the Pegasus Knights.

On the road, no one spoke. They walked and rode in silence, thinking about the things said before the battle. Many of them looked at Raphael with curiosity, and Raph, himself, was also curious. But none were as confused as Say'ri. _Is he a child from the future? Priam told me he had no other relatives and he is not the one to lie in order to be lifted up… Could he be…Nay, he can't. 'Tis not possible. _The group rode to Ylisstol in silence.

All but Aramis were concerned with these thoughts; he had only one thought on his mind, "Hey, Jack. I bet you I killed more Revenants than you!"

"Seriously? I took on that pack that was trying to finish off Clarisa! There is no way."

"I got 197! Top that, pony-boy!"

"215. Did that top it?" Jack said with a smile.

Aramis was shocked, "WHAT?! No way! You're lying to me!"

"I counted aloud the entire time, you could have heard me and knew I wasn't lying."

"Bah, it didn't matter anyway!" Aramis groaned and repositioned himself on Jack's horse.

* * *

They finally arrived. Raphael looked around at the busy streets of Ylisstol. The people here were content, happy, and even gleeful. This image of Ylisstol seemed like a mirage. The area was the same, the buildings were the same, but there were no ruins, no children crying in fear, no men fighting and dying, and no charred remains of friends they didn't have time to bury. It was clean, perfect, and the exact opposite of what they lived through.

_So this is what we fought so hard to save in our time… Looks like we did a pretty bang up job!_

Priam stopped the convoy to speak, "Privates, welcome to Ylisstol, capital of Ylisse. Say'ri and I must meet with Chrom and Robin to discuss the inevitable fights. You are all dismissed to the barracks. When you arrive, Frederick, Chrom's second in command, will inform you of your sleeping quarters. You have a couple hours 'til then, so use them how you will, just don't go completely crazy." With that, Priam nodded to Say'ri, and the two started to walk up to the castle side by side.

"So," Nathaniel said, rubbing his hands together, "who wants an aerial tour of Ylisstol? I know the capital well enough to point out famous landmarks and other stuff."

Tia raised her hand excitedly, "Oh-oh-oh, ME! I still haven't had a chance to ride your griffon." She ran up to him and got directly in his face, "You ARE going to let me go with you, right?"

Clarisa stifled a laugh at her brother's discomfort. He backed away, slowly, "Uh… sure. Just don't get directly in my face…"

"I know a quaint little pub on the outskirts of the city;" Clarisa spoke up, "they have some of the best bear burgers in the realm!"

"You had me at 'pub'." Jack said, licking his lips.

"Do they have any good mead?" Aramis asked, "I could go for some heavy drinks after that long journey."

"Please," Raphael said with a smile, "You've never had a drink in your life. I don't think you could even drink goat milk."

Aramis's face turned red and he spat as he yelled, "You challenge me? I'll drink you under ANY table in the world!"

Helen swatted Aramis's arm, "The ability to hold down and control any form of alcohol is not going to help you down the road. You should do something more productive with your life, troglodyte."

"TROGLODYTE?! I'll have you know that I am a-"

"Calm down, Aramis." Raphael shook his head in exasperation, "I don't even want to think about mead or wine right now, so no thank you on the challenge."

"Ha! A forfeit! I'll accept that."

"Are you coming with us to the pub though?" Jack asked.

"Actually, I'm going to the barracks to train. We need to be prepared at all times."

"How noble of you!" Helen said with a smile and a nod of approval. "You consider us and yourself over free time. We could all learn something from out of your book."

What they didn't know is that he wasn't going to train. Well, he would train, eventually, but his primary purpose was to see his old friends from his time.

"Well, we only have an hour, so let's go, Tia." Nathaniel and Tia raced down the road to the stables to retrieve Ashnard.

"The pub is only a block from the barracks, Raph." Clarisa called out to him as their group walked down the road, "Feel free to join us at anytime."

"Alright." He called after her. Soon, they were all out of sight. _Let's see… _he tried to remember the road to the barracks from his time, _they should be… this way! _He picked a path and hurried along.

When he arrived there, he couldn't see anyone guarding the front gate. _That's odd, _he thought as he made his way to the entrance, _I thought for sure that even in peace, they would have this place locked down like- _CLANG! He had walked straight into something, but what? He felt around in front of him and realized he had walked straight into a suit of armor.

"What the heck is this doing here?" He asked himself, still wondering why he didn't see it before.

"Because there is someone in it…" A voice said from the armor.

He jumped back in shock, slowly realizing that this was Kellam, the warrior of Ylisse who vanished to time in the future. Tales said that he was like a ghost and that he was the father of Laurent. No one remembered much more than that.

"Is there a reason you are here at Ylisse's barracks?" Kellam asked.

"Just visiting for now, sir." He saluted Kellam and continued, "My squad is going to be spending the duration of the Grimleal threat here in these barracks."

"Oh, you're with the Greil Defenders. Then I guess you can-"

"HOLD KELLAM!"

A large man clad in all blue armor ran toward the knight standing post at the gate. He had brown hair that was just a little tangled and his eyes were piercing. He wore a face of skepticism.

"Sir," Kellam saluted the knight, "This man here says that he-"

"I heard," The man turned his attention to Raphael, "but how do we know that he isn't a Grimleal spy?"

A spy?! Seriously? Raphael did not like these accusations. Who did this guy think he is? "Look, pal, you either let me in, or you will have to deal with my commander, Priam."

"He is being defensive, Kellam. A tell-tale sign of a spy not wanting to get caught."

Raphael felt his rage fill his face. He drew his steel sword and pointed it at the blue-clad man, "Let me in, or you're going to be regretting the day you were born!"

"Observe, Kellam. I shall handle this spy here and now." He pulled out a silver lance that he was carrying since he had been there. He returned the point to Raphael, "I am going to enjoy this, spy."

"FREDERICK! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Frederick? As in 'Frederick the wary' Frederick? The only man in the world who could train non-stop? _He would have pulverized me! I'm glad that person said something… _but then he saw who it was.

A blue haired woman made her presence known.

Raphael spoke, "Hey, Lucy. How was fighting Grima? I assume you kicked the crap outta him?"

"Do you know this cad, Lucina?" Frederick asked.

Lucina said nothing. She didn't even move. Time seemed to slow down for all that were present.

She finally spoke quietly with a small smile on her face, "…you're alive…"

"Yeah. Weird, right? I thought I'd be dead too-" WHAM

Lucina punched Raphael in the gut. "HOW COULD YOU MAKE JOKES ABOUT THIS?" She punched him across the face, "When Inigo told me of how you shoved him through the portal to safety, you had no plan of passing through!" she continuously punched him as many times as she could. "I cried because we could not save everyone! I thought our mission was a failure from the beginning! I thought that if I couldn't even save you, the strongest of us, how would I save father?" She fell to her knees and began crying.

Raphael remembered the last moments as if they happened yesterday.

* * *

_ "This rite will allow you to change that which is already written," Naga said, "go back to the time of Chrom and save him from his death."_

_ "How did he die, Naga?" Lucina asked. It was an important enough question that she felt she needed to ask it._

_ "He was killed by one of his closest comrades. The name of the person was-"but an explosion from outside masked the rest of the sentence from their ears._

_ "The Risen are here!" Aaron said, running into the altar room. "I tried fighting a few off, but in the end, I wasn't fast enough." He clenched his fists._

_ "Hurry, children of the heroes." Naga said to the group of fourteen teens assembled at Mount Prism. "If you wait any longer, the fate of the world will forever be sealed."_

_ "I shall test the portal for problems by entering in first." Laurent offered. He had not seen that the Risen had infiltrated the area and passed through. Two Risen followed him through with Lucina right behind them._

_ "There goes our fearless leader," Inigo said, deflecting an arrow, "she just went in to save Laurent."_

_ "Comrades! We must plan carefully to go through this portal." Owain shouted._

_ "Got any ideas, genius?" Severa asked, fighting off a group of figher-class Risen._

_ "Uh…"_

_ "I do." Raphael threw Ragnell so that it ricocheted off of three Risen before returning to his hands, "Weakest to strongest go through! Brady, get Noire and get through!"_

_ "Ya ain't gotta tell me twice!" Brady responded, as he grabbed Noire by the hand and led her through the portal._

_ Everyone made it through eventually, leaving only Inigo and Raphael to fight the rest of the Risen to not allow them passage._

_ "Inigo, I already told you to go!" Raphael shouted at him as he clashed swords with a swordsmaster._

_ "If you think I'm going to let you die a noble death, you'd be thinking wrong." Inigo chopped the head off of a mage Risen._

_ Raphael looked up and saw Grima in the distance. Grima was controlling these Risen, not his servants! This would end with their deaths if Inigo stayed. If Inigo left, at least he would be safe. Raph was ready to make the sacrifice_

_ "I said GO!" at that, Raphael turned his full strength to pushing Inigo through the portal. Inigo tumbled backward into the light, yelling Raphael's name._

_ The Risen stopped momentarily. They let out a unearthly screech and all charged for the portal. The portal began to close._

_ "Good, I'll be able to stop their advance!" Raphael told himself as he fought more and more Risen with each passing minute. The portal shrunk at a very slow pace, shooting random shots of light around the room. He felt powerful for the first time in his life. Maybe his father and mother were watching over him from the afterlife._

_ "MORTAL. ALLOW ME PASSAGE, OR SUFFER MY WRATH!"_

_ Raphael turned to see a man surrounded by a dark aura. He wore a purple and black cloak and had white hair and fair skin._

_ "Who are you, pal?"Raphael asked the mysterious man._

_ But he didn't get the chance; a Risen knocked him from the side with a Rexcaliber tome. He lost his balance and fell through the portal, finding himself in the Garden of Giants, the legendary island of his father, Priam._

* * *

"Lucy, dry up those tears." Raphael chuckled, bending on one knee to wipe away her tears, "The princess of Ylisse shouldn't cry for joy when her loyal servant returns."

She looked up at him through tear-stained eyes, "Of course, but I wasn't crying because of that."

"Oh?" Raphael was a little confused, "What were you crying about, then?"

Lucina started to act strange, scratching her face and blushing a deep red, "W-well…" she paused momentarily, "Raphael… I lo-"

"Raph? RAPH!" Raphael was tackled by something fast and furry. He looked up at his assaulter, seeing his old friend, Yarne.

"Hey, fur-face! How goes the 'Save the Taguel Project' with Cynthia?" Raphael said, smiling and getting to his feet.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?!" Yarne stuttered, nervously.

One-by-one, the group of future children found their way to Raphael. Gerome seemed to be happy that the other lone wolf had returned, Severa yelled at him for doing 'a stupid, idiotic thing like that', Owain recited poetic theatrics and asked how Ragnell was doing, and Inigo hugged him with joy. All surrounded him to talk to him; all but one.

Lucina stood with her back to a wall. "I thought I lost you, Raph." She muttered to herself, "I thought I would never be truly happy again." She smiled, "But now that you're back, I'm going to let you know how I feel, even if your head explodes in embarrassment." She began walking toward the training grounds.

**OVER 9000 REVENANTS!... Kellam made his guest appearance! He is easily one of my favorite characters in the game, so I forced him into this chapter for fun.**

**If my chapter titles start to not make any sense, it is because I'm taking them from the titles of hoobastank songs (this song is easily my favorite).**

**This was originally two chapters, but due to the length of the first chapter, which was to end after they made it across the border, I brought them both together.**

**I know Cormag will hate me for this, but Lucina is obviously going to play a BIG part in this story, whether Cormag cares or not :P.**

**By the way, the flash-back is to show that Raphael is the only one who knew that Robin was Grima from the future. That will make sense down the line…**

**I haven't gotten any break throughs with my story, Desperado. So expect some stagnation there, but I will have more free time beginning on Wednesday. (yay)**

**By the way, thank you for opening this story for a thirteenth time (if you've been following the story for that long). Leave a review on what I can improve on, or send me a PM about anything. **

**(Oh, yeah. It has come to my attention that I haven't done a Disclaimer. I will get one in this story, eventually…)**

**But again, thanks!**

**~TheSearcherer**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

No Destination

"I think we're getting close to the old pub." Clarisa said, looking around at the landmarks. She had been leading the small group around trying to find the pub, but had not been successful. Aramis groaned as his barely-healed foot couldn't take another step.

"Sure it is, Clarisa." He said sarcastically, "But at this rate, my feet will just fall off of my legs! I'm going to head back to the barracks if we-"

"Wait." Jack said, pointing his nose in the air, "What is that smell?"

"What smell?" Clarisa asked.

"It's probably Aramis." Helen snorted.

"No," Jack replied, "it smells like…" he turned around and squinted his eyes, "…Bear burgers!" He made a mad dash down a street and turned a corner.

"After him!" Clarisa shouted.

The three chased as best they could behind Jack as he sped toward the 'noble' side of the city. They went down several streets and alleys before they saw Jack stop in front of a pub door.

"This is it!" Clarisa said with excitement.

"…Joy…" Aramis complained, catching his breath from their cross-city run.

"Let's go inside before Jack breaks down the door." Helen said, pointing at Jack, who was standing extremely still in front of the door.

They walked in and took in the surroundings, there were not a lot of windows, so the building's only source of light was from several candles lighting the walls. There were only a few tables, a total of eight altogether, and each table sat four. They chose a table by the kitchen door to 'get their food faster' as Jack put it. When they had each sat down, Jack leaned close to the door to smell the fragrances emitting from the kitchen. Helen had positioned herself in a very unladylike manner, with her back slouched over the table with her hand holding up her head under her cheek. Aramis rubbed his feet and legs to rest them, and Clarisa sat in a poised position.

"What can I get for you?" the waitress asked, exiting from the kitchen.

"I'll have the exalt salad with water." Clarisa said.

"I'll take the Regna Ferox special." Helen replied.

"I would like the largest bear burger you can make!" Jack said with determination.

"I'll just have some wine." Aramis said with a grunt of discomfort.

The waitress returned to the kitchen, and the four Defenders sat and waited for the food to arrive. They sat there for what seemed like an hour and their food was nowhere in sight. Aramis grew impatient.

"Where is that blasted waitress with my wine?! It's been almost four hours!"

"It's just been an hour, genius." Clarisa said, also irritated by the fact that their food was taking so long.

"Be patient, guys." Jack said, still looking back at the kitchen door, "They're probably experiencing some problems in the kitchen."

Just then, a large clatter of pots and pans rang out through the entire pub followed by a womanly shriek.

"I'm going to have to agree with that, Jack." Helen said, preparing to stand up and check what the matter was.

As Helen stood from her seat, the chef was thrown from the kitchen, breaking the door between the rooms. With the door busted, they could see that Risen were in the kitchen.

"What the-" more Risen burst through the front door. The small group realized that this was no normal accident, this was an assault; on them.

Clarisa immediately took charge of tactics, "Jack, you're at a disadvantage without your horse, as am I, so you partner up with Aramis, and I'll partner up with Helen."

"But my burger-" Jack didn't have the chance to complain; he was dragged out of the building by Aramis, who, at the moment, was readying his Arcthunder tome, his strongest tome.

The Risen were up and down the streets. Fortunately, they seemed like weak soldier units. They had no problem clearing the street they were currently on, but as they looked around, the Risen seemed to be all over the place. _How did all of these Risen randomly appear?_

"Look out below!" Nathaniel shouted as he and Ashnard seemed to swoop from out of nowhere. Tanuitia was riding on the back of Ashnard and jumped off much better this time than her last jump. She landed directly on a myrmidon and killed a fighter with a swift swing of her bronze blade.

"Nathaniel!" Clarisa yelled up to him, while jabbing at a risen going at Helen's backside, "How bad is this situation? How many Risen are in the city?"

"It is just this one spot, fortunately." Nathaniel replied, swinging his axe at a nearby cavalier, knocking it from its mount, "As to their origin, ask Tia!"

Clarisa turned to see the young myrmidon girl blush and act guilty. "Tia, what happened?"

"Can you ask me after we're through fighting?" Tia pleaded.

Clarisa could see that they were nearly wrapped up with the fight anyway, so she complied.

They protected all of the merchants and citizens well, so there were no casualties afterward. Soon, there was nothing left of the Risen except for the rubble of damage that they caused.

As they regrouped in the center of the road, Clarisa spoke first, "Tia…what happened?"

"Well, you know how Nate was going to give me an aerial view of the city?"

"…yes?"

"Well I started to get a little dizzy, so we stopped flying for a bit and landed near the market area, with all of the different tents and merchants." It was evident that she was nervous, because she started to speak at the speed of a wyvern in flight. "Well, there was this one that was selling some amazing objects and oddities not found in the entire realm by anyone but Anna, he called all of those items 'Anna-exclusives'. But there was this one that was like a box or something and it had some cool writing on it-"

"It read 'do not open, only for the brave'…" Nathaniel interrupted.

"-and I thought it would be a fun souvenir for remembering this occasion, but when I purchased it and opened it, there was this really bright blue light that filled the room, then Risen appeared out of nowhere! It clearly wasn't my fault."

"I don't see how it isn't your fault!" Clarisa yelled at her, "How could you be so foolish to open a Reeking Box in the middle of the city!"

"But look, sis," Nathaniel pointed around the city. Where there had been rubble, it had been fixed or disappeared entirely, "there was no harm done to anyone, right? And we're all a little stronger afterwards, right?"

It was true; they had gained some experience after that small confrontation. "Alright, then. We'll talk it over with Priam and let him settle the matter." Clarisa said, crossing her arms.

"But first things first," Jack interrupted, "there is a bear burger with my name on it."

They all agreed that they were hungry, so they headed in the direction of the pub to get some food. Pulling up extra chairs, they ordered the food.

After they had all gotten resettled, the subject of Raphael's origin arose. "Where did he come from?" Aramis asked aloud.

"It's quite obvious that he is related to Priam somehow, but how?" Helen agreed.

Nathaniel had these thoughts earlier, but he and Jack both agreed that Raphael's origin was of no concern to them as long as it was not a sinister past.

"Maybe he is Priam's cousin." Tia added.

"I may have an idea." Clarisa spoke almost as if a candle was lit in her head, "have you heard the tales of the warriors from the future?"

"No, what of it?" Nathaniel asked.

"Well, each warrior had a set of parents who had died in the future, parents that exist in this time." She picked up her glass from the table and took a sip. "What if he is the son of Priam from the future?"

"What?!" Aramis felt that if Raphael had been from the future, then he would be so much cooler than he was, and Aramis wouldn't stand for that. "That is completely preposterous! How could people even travel back in time? These are just myths!"

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong, sir."

A girl with red hair, and a cloak of a purple hue, similar to Robin's, approached them. She took the empty seat next to Tia and Helen.

"And how do you know, hmm?" Aramis asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Because I am one of them. My name is Morgan, daughter of the great tactician, Robin." She bowed politely and took the empty seat next to Tia and Helen.

"Excuse me, miss," Jack said, blushing, "but has anyone ever commented on your beauty?"

This was a side of Jack that no one had seen. He normally wasn't this forward, or talkative for that matter. The way he was talking made everyone feel awkward.

She blushed in response, "Um… N-no…"

"W-well, um…" Jack couldn't find the right words. Fortunately, Aramis changed the subject back to Raphael's origin.

"Is that wimp, Raphael, one of you?"

"Raphael…? I can't remember… Hmm… I guess I wouldn't be the person to ask. Why don't you ask him?"

"I'm slightly confused," Tia said, scratching her head, "are you saying that you have no idea? But weren't you with him in the future?"

"I was, at least, I think I was… You see, when I came to this time, I received permanent memory loss, forgetting everything and everyone from my time."

"Well I guess we have no choice but to ask him, then, unless we run into other future warriors." Clarisa said with a shrug.

**HEY!... I'm back! But only for a few days.**

**I'm not overly fond of this chapter, but I wanted to show what each separate group in Ylisse was up to. The next chapter will be about Priam and Say'ri in the castle, talking with Robin and Chrom about the epidemic, and talking about Raphael's origin. Say'ri will lose her trust in Priam for a while L.**

**I know what you're thinking, (actually, I don't, but I can make an educated guess) you may be thinking "When is he going to update Desperado? Or when is he going to publish The Means of Peace?" The answer to these questions are nonexistent as of the moment, because of all of the work I have to do to graduate. If you weren't thinking these thoughts, then I…I…I don't know…**

**Please leave a review, as always. And send me a PM if you feel up to the challenge. I can talk to people 'til their ears fall off. It's pretty nasty.**

**As always, thank you for your time.**

**~TheSearcherer**


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